From the producers of The Kids Are Alright comes another excellent family drama starring Juliane Moore. She plays a hot-headed rock singer who battles her divorced husband, a narcissistic art dealer, expertly played by the unlikely Steeve Coogan, for custody of her daughter Maisie. When one of them marries the girl’s nanny, the other rushes into marriage as well. Based on Henry James’ titular novel from 1897, it tells the story of a quiet, sensitive young girl coping with being used as a pawn by egotistical parents who spite each other. It is sometimes hard to watch the girl get caught up in all this but the young actress playing Maisie, Onata Aprile, plays the part brilliantly. The screenplay adaption of the ahead-of-its-time material of the book by Nancy Doyne and Carroll Cartwright also hits every note with passion. A harrowing but powerful film.
"There is much anger, betrayal, and cruelty as the girl's watchful eyes take in everything and she learns, slowly, what she must do to survive."
— David Denby
In New York City, a young girl is caught in the middle of her parents' bitter custody battle.
"Scott McGehee and David Siegel's adaptation commendably preserves the book's child perspective even if it doesn't quite match the characteristically dark shades of the author's moral fare."
— Emma Myers