By Nick Long — 

Who knew that jigsaw puzzles could raise such heavy hitting life questions? This week I decided to see Puzzle directed by Marc Turtletaub.

Puzzle follows the story of a middle-aged mother named Agnes (Kelly Macdonald) who has been bogged down by her life’s mundane schedule and turns to jigsaw puzzles to spice up her routine. She decides to sign up for a two-person jigsaw puzzle solving competition with a new puzzle partner named Robert (Irrfan Khan).

The main issues come into play when Agnes neglects to tell her husband Louie (David Denman) and her children that she’s been practicing these puzzles with Robert in New York City and she begins to reevaluate all her priorities.

This film was very enjoyable to watch. Going into it, I assumed that the entire film would be focused on Agnes and Robert’s quest to becoming the national puzzle champions, but the puzzle solving aspect was not what this movie was about. Even though the title of the film would say otherwise, the puzzles really are just a catalyst for the internal conflicts Agnes begins to have about how she’s been living her life.

I think Agnes’ conflict really speaks to what a lot of people go through in regards to feeling like you aren’t living your life exactly the way that you want to be living it. My only qualm with the film was that it tried to maintain a light-hearted vibe while simultaneously opening up for forum for some heavy hitting subject material. I felt like they had a really good opportunity to push the envelope with issues Agnes faced with her loved ones.

Nevertheless, the film still gets its points across fairly well and it was an enjoyable watch! It definitely exceeded my expectations. On a final note, if anything, at least go watch the trailer because it does some really cool rhythmic things that coincide with the film’s themes as a whole! (8/10)

Photo Courtesy / IMDB