Then Maggie meets John Harding (Ethan Hawke, Predestination), a fellow employee at the local college, and the pair hit it off. It's a shame that he is already married to a beautiful, career-driven Danish shrew named Georgette (Julianne Moore, The Hunger Games series), who is so focused on her own career that John isn't able to finish his novel.
Fast-forward a couple of years and John and Maggie are married, have a lovely toddler named Lily, and John still hasn't quite finished the book. Maggie finds herself more of an assistant than a wife and the magic is simply gone from their relationship. When she meets Georgette, she discovers that things aren't exactly as John portrayed them and she comes up with a plan. See, you thought Maggie's Plan was the "having the baby" part, but no. It's actually her plan for John, Georgette, and taking her own life back. Plots are created, people are manipulated, things happen, and hilarity ensues.
Maggie's Plan is what I would call a quiet comedy. It never really had any laugh-out-loud moments for me, but it was amusing. Greta Gerwig reminds me so much of Alyson Hannigan as Willow in Buffy. Her speech patterns make her seem unsure of herself, but it's very charming and she plays an adorable and quirky character, complete with lots of plaid skirts, sweaters, and oddly-colored tights. Bill Hader and Maya Rudolph are funny and ridiculous, but they give the film a nice levity, while Julianne Moore is simply astounding as Georgette. Honestly, I couldn't wait for her next scene, just to see the outlandish but gorgeous clothes she was wearing and how she behaved. Ethan Hawke plays his role well, but he's not the most lovable character in this film.
Special features include a commentary with writer/director Rebecca Miller, a Sundance Q&A, a making-of featurette, and outtakes, which are basically freestyling scenes with the toddler who plays Lily, and a series of ridiculous line-o-ramas with Hader and Rudolph.
Overall, Maggie's Plan is an amusing film. It's not high art, but it's a cute movie that almost had a Woody Allen feel to it at times. If you enjoy the actors in this film, and you like a New York story, you'll probably like Maggie's Plan.