Greta Gerwig and Ethan Hawke, Photo Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics
Maggie’s Plan
Written and directed by Rebecca Miller
Out May 20
Rating 
Maggie’s Plan keeps audiences guessing from the opening scene. The film begins when Maggie (Greta Gerwig) runs into her ex (Bill Hader) and tells him that she wants to have a baby and is considering artificial insemination. But this isn’t going where you think it is—they don’t fall in love. Maggie decides to procreate with a “pickle entrepreneur” (Travis Fimmel) and Hader’s character stays firmly in the friend role. Maggie’s procreation plan is put in jeopardy when she falls for a romantic, misunderstood writer (Ethan Hawke) who decides to cheat on his brilliant, career-focused wife (Julianne Moore) just in time to stop Maggie’s turkey baster. Then that story is turned on its head in yet another twist.
This film is being marketed as a rom-com, but there’s no real romance in it. Part of what makes it so fun, actually, is that we’re so used to seeing Ethan Hawke playing the angsty heartthrob, it’s a revelation to see this pretense fall away to reveal pure douchebaggery. And Gerwig will make you feel for her even as you cringe at her terrible decisions. But best of all is Julianne Moore as an over-the-top Danish anthropologist—a character more like her comedic turn in 30 Rock than any of her recent dramatic roles.
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By Erika W. Smith
This article originally appeared in the April/May 2016 print edition of BUST Magazine. Subscribe today!
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