Watching this movie took me back to the last century when films were mostly all about story and character development and not devised to smash our senses with special effects, loud music and predictable over the top plots.
This well crafted piece is a joy to watch and provides the perfect platform for some superb acting all round, especially by Scots actor, Kelly McDonald (Agnes) who plays the lonely, frustrated and subservient housewife. Her performance (including very accurate NE USA accent) is one of great subtlety often conveying thoughts through her forlorn eyes and faint smiles. The story is centred around Agnes' escape from her discontented life in the face of her husband (Louie) - who, though a loyal fairly decent man is beyond being stuck in his ways as he settles for mid-life drudgery with his worst crime being that he takes his hardworking wife for granted.
Despite her fairly insular and mundane existence, Agnes' brain is sharp and she maintains it by doing jigsaw puzzles in her spare time. Her curious mind drives her to explore new horizons via her puzzle pastime, as she ventures into the big smoke with dual purpose, to visit her ailing, elderly Aunt and to shop for new jigsaw puzzles. This pursuit leads her down an existential crossroads.
Look out for some clever touches and devices in the development of the storyline as the characters change at different paces and in different directions.
The cinematography captures New York and its suburbs in crisp autumnal tones. Puzzle is not a glossy film about up state New York life but a down to earth true life drama about very plausible people in real situations. The interior sets create great contrast - the suburban house appearing dark and claustrophobic to convey Agnes' trapped environment whilst the other properties (she visits in NYC) are light and spacious to highlight openness, freedom and hope.
The film's title is "Puzzle" and though the drama is not exactly a puzzle, it is intriguing and does show how life itself can be a puzzle caused by events that are almost meant to be.
If you like meaningful films, this understated drama is definitely worth watching.
