Puzzle (2018)

Jack and I loved this lovely story of a timid old-fashioned housewife whose world opens up when she finds she has a knack for jigsaw puzzles. So old fashioned that, for the first ten minutes or so, I thought the movie was set in the 1950s--her print shirtwaist dress, cluttered house, cooking, cleaning, catering to the males in her family.

Kelly Macdonald (last blogged for Goodbye Christopher Robin) adopts a vaguely New York accent to play Connecticut resident Agnes (Jack didn't buy her accent at all) with subtlety and grace. Irrfan Khan (most recently in Jurassic World) is delightful as Robert, the jaded millionaire in the spectacular Manhattan digs who appreciates Agnes' skill. Agnes' mechanic husband Louie, who does not appreciate her, is played with range by David Denman (best known to me for 31 episodes of The Office and eleven of Parenthood, as well as small parts in Men, Women & Children and Logan Lucky). Their sons Ziggy (Bubba Weiler, who is new to me) and Gabe (Austin Abrams, who co-starred in Brad's Status), are more sensitive than their dad, especially Ziggy.

This is the second time directing for Marc Turtletaub (he produced Everything Is Illuminated (2005), Little Miss Sunshine (2006), Sherrybaby (2006), Sunshine Cleaning, Jack Goes Boating, Safety Not Guaranteed, Loving, and more--I didn't see his other directing gig). Oren Moverman (last blogged for The Dinner) and Polly Mann (her debut) adapted the script from a 2009 Argentinian movie called Rompecabezas (it means puzzle in Spanish) written and directed by Natalia Smirnoff. One spoiler-prone Village Voice reviewer wondered how Agnes can be so sheltered. I didn't, really. It's just the style of the story, and probably comes from the source material.

About Robert's New York house: I've been looking online but cannot find info on it. The circular room with the engraved walls and starburst floor is worth the price of admission. Props to the location team, as well as production designer Roshelle Berliner (her work includes Choke, Precious, and Life During Wartime, to name a few).

Composer Dustin O’Halloran's (most recently in these pages for scoring Lion) soundtrack can be streamed from this spotify link and is available for sale on iTunes and Amazon. Ave Maria is sung twice, once as source music on a subway by a blind busker, sung by blind countertenor Matthew Shifrin (not available online, so here's something else).

Rotten Tomatoes' critics are averaging 83% and its audiences 85. Assemble at the theatre and see this.