Good idea lost in the noise

Best movie ever!

This is ultimately a movie about the very bad things that can happen when we don't address our unease, when we just try to brush it off, whether that's to fit in or to preserve our self-image.

This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

It is one of the best movies of the year. Kelly McDonald should get a nomination and the rest of the cast specially Irrfan Khan are a pleasure to watch. I wish they were more movies like that!!!

IMO this movie decided to 'go serious', like an Independent film as opposed to a Hollywood crowd pleaser. If remade as the latter, the producers would cast a popular comedienne, & change the husband from an oppressive anachronism to a goofy husband who supports his wife, who we find out is a genius puzzle maker. As it is, Kelly MacDonald is very watchable as the sad wife, but the male chauvinistic husband is from another era. As the unhappy Agnes, MacDonald isn't always likable or understandable. She calls one of her sons a 'punk' unnecessarily, I thought. She can be as equally difficult as her husband. But as I said, she's still an interesting actress with a compelling face. She meets an attrative 'puzzle partner', a man from another culture, who falls in love with her---a better partner I can't imagine for Agnes, but her reactions (plural) to him are a little puzzling, which is a good word for this movie.

This low-key drama has Kelly MacDonald as a timid housewife who goes through a form of self-discovery when she discovers she has a skill in completing jigsaw puzzles.The main strength of this one is probably in the acting of MacDonald whose character is consistently a little bit strange, yet identifiable. The entire story is from her perspective so the drama does sort of hinge on her performance and it is very good. She is supported well by the others, with Irrfan Khan best as a fellow puzzle maker she hooks up with and develops feelings for. The film is essentially a family drama, with MacDonald as a taken-for-granted housewife who goes through the process of realising that her voice is never heard and building up the confidence to more fully be her own person. Unlike other films about people with unusual competitive skills such as Populaire (2012) (fast typing), there is next to no focus on the competitive nature of the puzzle building; so, there is sadly no montage sequence depicting MacDonald and Khan developing their puzzle-based friendship via a few set-backs, some jigsaw-based comedy antics and ultimately some top-level puzzle solving action. Its not that kind of a film. The puzzle aspect sits in the background and acts as a springboard for all the drama that surrounds it. A good film overall.

I managed to attend the European premier of this at the opening night gala of the Edinburgh Film Festival. In the past some of the movies chosen to open the Edinburgh festival have been poor quality and chosen due to their links with Scotland. However in this case they managed to pick a movie which may just be one of the best on show this year. The story is about a mother of two who seems more of less content with her family life but on her birthday is presented with a jigsaw puzzle. Her life is so predictable she knows what her husband will say before he does. Completing this puzzle seems to give her a sense of achievement which she doesn't seem to be able to find anywhere else in her life. This sets her off on a mission to find more puzzles to complete and opens up a new life for her...possibly. The tone of the movie is somewhat offbeat, quite a few times there were members of the audience laughing at what seemed inappropriate times. You also have to suspend your disbelief for the story to work. It takes a while before you notice the movie is set in the present day. The main character is somewhat strange as well, its unclear if her quirky behaviour is supposed to be due to a sheltered life or something like Aspergers/OCD. The reason I think its like an old fashioned fairy tale, up to a point is there is a handsome rich stranger who comes into her life via her interest in puzzles, who has the potential to whisk her away from a life of domestic drudgery. Its very much a story told from a female perspective at the expense of her husbands' there is more a little bit of selfishness in the main character which to me makes her less sympathetic. Its an interesting film and worth the watch although how you respond will largely be down to whether you find this a movie about someone who is blinkered and selfish or someone escaping from a humdrum life of family responsibility. You decide.