PUZZLE

Director: Marc Turtletaub

103, R

Screenwriter: Oren Moverman and Polly Mann, based on the film ‘Rompecabezas’ by Natalia Smirnoff.

Cast: Kelly Macdonald, David Denman, Daniel Sherman, Irrfan Khan, Austin Abrams, Bubba Weiler.

 

Scottish actor Kelly Macdonald (No Country for Old Men, Gosford Park, HBO’s Boardwalk Empire) finally gets the starring role she deserves, in a quiet earthquake of a movie based on a popular film from Argentina. Macdonald plays a self-effacing Connecticut wife & mother, who inadvertently discovers that she has an uncanny ability to assemble large jigsaw puzzles. As she comes to embrace her talent, practicing with a slyly seductive partner played by Irrfan Khan (Slumdog Millionaire, Life of Pi) and competing in New York City, the limitations of her former life become clear. What is so thrilling is that unlike so many movies about uncommon women, Puzzle celebrates Macdonald’s achievements without punishing her with personal tragedy.
“A million tiny revelations make up one massive arc, and Kelly Macdonald positively radiates hope and joy throughout.” – Christy Lemire, RogerEbert.com.