Review of What Maisie Knew (2013) by Manny C — 02 Jun 2013

Julianne Moore is all kinds of terrific as wild rock star Susanna, who has just divorced her art dealer husband, Beale (Steve Coogan). What they have in common now is their mutual neglect of their six-year-old daughter Maisie (Onata Aprile, marvelous). Believe it or not, this is an update of the 1897 Henry James novel of the same name, and it's a doozy. Directors Scott McGehee and David Siegel (The Deep End), aided by an excellent script from Nancy Doyne and Carroll Cartwright, mines timeless themes in the tale of a child torn by custody battles they can never hope to win.

But Maisie is nothing if not resilient, and young Aprile is an extraordinary young actress who blows most kid actors out of the water. Her feelings on her circumstances are nuanced and come naturally, especially in her touching and hilarious scenes with studly Alexander Skarsgard as Lincoln, a bartender Susanna impulsively marries, possibly out of spite since Beale has shacked up with Maisie's former nanny Margo (Joanna Vanderham). At times the film seems to overly simplify into fable, particularly when Lincoln and Margo run the risk of being too one-note. But everyone involved takes care to reveal the pain that can be inflicted from love. This may be a story written about 116 years ago, but it's all still highly relevant today.