Heartbreaking portrait of modern family life: Julianne Moore leads a surprising and impressive cast in this thoughtful drama

By Chris Tookey

PUBLISHED: 16:26 EST, 22 August 2013 | UPDATED: 16:48 EST, 22 August 2013

What Maisie Knew (15)

Verdict: Quality cinema

Rating:

The best new film of the week is this beautifully acted, thought-provoking drama that skilfully updates Henry James’s little-read 1897 novella to the modern era. 

It’s centred on an astonishing, Oscar-quality performance by Onata Aprile, as an innocent six-year-old shuttled between adults as they conduct their lives with varying degrees of selfishness.

There has been no more moving study of the damage divorce and thoughtless parenting can do to a child. Seeing a child suffer is never an easy watch, which is bound to affect its commercial prospects.

The outstanding performance from six-year-old Onata Aprile as Julianne Moore and Steve Coogan's daughter is worthy of an Oscar

The miraculous element is the child’s generosity of spirit. She may not understand what is going on — the title is ironic — but her capacity for love shines through.

Julianne Moore is predictably superb as Maisie’s flaky rock star mother. More surprising is Steve Coogan as the workaholic art-dealer father, a class above anything he has achieved before.

James’s didactic plots have not worn well, but this one works; it’s the most pertinent study of modern family life since The Kids Are All Right.

The thoughtful look at modern family structures explores the damage done by divorce and selfish parents

_taboola.push({mode: 'autosized-generated-text-under-1r-us', container: 'taboola-below-main-column', placement: 'below-main-column'});_taboola.push({flush:true});DM.BC.videoAdServerUrl = "http://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/ads?sz=8x8&iu=%2F7023%2Fdm.video%2Fdm_video_tvshowbiz&ciu_szs=&impl=s&gdfp_req=1&env=vp&output=xml_vast2&unviewed_position_start=1&url=[referrer_url]&correlator=[timestamp]";if (window.ArticlePage && MobileUtils.isMobile()) {new ArticlePage();}

_cc991.bcp();

View the original article here

This post was made using the Auto Blogging Software from WebMagnates.org This line will not appear when posts are made after activating the software to full version.