If you've read Silas Marner you know the story: grumpy misanthrope loses valued treasure, inherits young daughter who replaces it and restores his life. I hope the author of Fikry acknowledges the debt. The NYC literary world-rural New England axis, which forms the setting of this retelling, is pretty tired at this point; you have to be an elite college lit major to think it has any bearing on the real world, but in a movie at least it provides an excuse for beautiful settings.
In the eponymous role Kunal Nayyar is fantastic in every way; I hope this role brings him many more. Lucy Hale is also outstanding, and Arquette is very good. Of the various actresses who played Maya, the youngest were full of energy and charm. As for the rest, they were meh to bad, but it is not clear whether it is the fault of the actors or the writing. Blair Brown as teen Maya was a sad sack and devoid of character; Christina Hendricks as Ismay was self-absorbed, angry, and unlikable; and Scott Foley as Daniel was not at all believable as a successful writer (or even as a human being).
The movie would have been greatly improved had it wrapped up the loose ends quickly after the pivotal event near the end, but instead it dragged everything out under the assumption that anyone cared about those subplots. We didn't.
In the eponymous role Kunal Nayyar is fantastic in every way; I hope this role brings him many more. Lucy Hale is also outstanding, and Arquette is very good. Of the various actresses who played Maya, the youngest were full of energy and charm. As for the rest, they were meh to bad, but it is not clear whether it is the fault of the actors or the writing. Blair Brown as teen Maya was a sad sack and devoid of character; Christina Hendricks as Ismay was self-absorbed, angry, and unlikable; and Scott Foley as Daniel was not at all believable as a successful writer (or even as a human being).
The movie would have been greatly improved had it wrapped up the loose ends quickly after the pivotal event near the end, but instead it dragged everything out under the assumption that anyone cared about those subplots. We didn't.