Between the jigsaws and the reels

PUZZLE PEOPLE Kelly Macdonald and Irrfan Khan star in ‘Puzzle’.

Linenhall Film Club is continuing its spring 2019 programme, with Marc Turtletaub’s quirky and warm-hearted human drama ‘Puzzle’ screening tonight (Tuesday), April 9.
Puzzle is a closely observed portrait of Agnes (Kelly Macdonald), who has reached her early 40s without ever venturing far from home, family or the tight-knit immigrant community in which she was raised by her widowed father. That begins to change in a quietly dramatic fashion when she receives a jigsaw puzzle as a birthday gift and experiences the heady thrill of not only doing something she enjoys, but being very, very good at it.
After years of concerning herself exclusively with the needs and wants of her husband, Louie, and sons, Ziggy and Gabe, Agnes has found something that she wants to do. Stepping out of her domestic bubble to pursue her new hobby, she meets Robert (Irrfan Khan), a wealthy, reclusive inventor who recognises her talent and recruits her as his partner for an upcoming world jigsaw tournament... Ultimately, Agnes will decide for herself what comes next.
Little Miss Sunshine producer Turtletaub directs a warm film full of carefully observed detail, writes Wendy Ide in The Observer, who also trumpets the actors’ performances: “While it’s fair to say that competitive puzzling is not an activity that lends itself to gripping cinema, the lovely, subtle work from Macdonald, as her character blossoms and her horizons broaden, gives the film a warmth and magnetism. An added bonus is a flamboyant, expansive turn from Irrfan Khan (as Agnes’s puzzle partner and romantic foil) that harmonises elegantly with the gentle minor keys of Macdonald’s performance.”