Marc Turtletaub’s Puzzle takes what could be an overly simplistic pitch and finds a bittersweet human depth: a conservative housewife finds life renewal when she stumbles into competitive puzzling. The plot’s potential for oddness and twee cutesiness is luckily kept to our fears, for the film gives way to a sober and heartfelt character study made all the more surprising because of its entry point. Puzzle is more in search of micro moments that open the floodgates for macro changes in its protagonist than any performative pastiche to undercut its patient narrative.
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