Puzzle

Jigsaw puzzles can be relaxing and meditative, especially when there is no TV, radio or internet to absorb your attention. Then your cat jumps on the table deciding to sleep on it scattering stuff all over the floor which ends up under the furniture and several pieces go missing. This new film in a directorial debut by Marc Turtletaub was written by Oren Moverman and Polly Mann based on the 2010 Argentine film of the same name. It's hard to imagine a movie about a woman who does puzzles would be interesting, but the amazing and sensitive portrayal by Kelly Macdonald makes this film a keeper.

Agnes (Kelly Macdonald) is sort of a throwback to a 50's stay at home mom who wears a dress and heels while vacuuming her home, decorating party decorations for her own birthday party. Married to car mechanic Lou (David Denman) they have two sons, Ziggy (Bubba Weiler) and Gabe (Austin Abrams). Ziggy works in his dad garage which makes him very unhappy. Gabe is applying for college, but is not exactly enthused having to write some essays on why he wants to go to college. Agnes spends her days doing the daily chores of fixing beds, laundry, food shopping and cooking for her family. During her off time, she works with the church women groups that service the community. Life is predictable but somehow comforting and of course unsatisfying. For her birthday she received a phone, which she says she doesn't need. She has the house phone, the radio and if something important is happening someone will tell her. She also received a 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle of a world map. It's when she impulsively decides to open it up on her dining room table she discovers the puzzle is something she has been missing in her life. She was also good at math, and the focus the puzzle gives her help to organize her mind. She manages to complete it in a couple of hours.

It's when she takes the train into the city to purchase another puzzle, that she sees an ad for someone looking for a puzzle partner. Someone to compete in a puzzle championship. Life suddenly becomes more adventurous. She lies to her family about where she is going a couple days a week by saying she is taking care of her aunt who broke her foot. Instead she is practicing with Robert (Irrfan Khan), a reclusive inventor whose wife just left him. This step for Agnes begins to open a whole world to her, one that is unexpected and confusing for her clueless but devoted husband, and delightful for her sons who always suspected she was unhappy.

It's hard to imagine there are still women stuck in that mindset of domestic subservience. It makes her journey to self-discovery more poignant and believable as it affects the people around her as she becomes a person. As her world gets bigger and her confidence builds, she starts to think for herself and not what others expect. It's told very simplistically, but it's Macdonald's sensitive performance that enlightens the transformation.
(Review by reesa)