Schwarzenegger, Breslin Strive to Bring Life to “Maggie”

Since giving up on California politics, Arnold
Schwarzenegger’s return to the big screen has failed to generate the sort of
box office success his earlier work had. 
Cameos in Sylvester Stallone’s geriatric action franchise The
Expendables and features such as The Last Stand and Escape Plan failed to
break any new ground where his persona was concerned.  So, before returning to The Terminator franchise for a huge paycheck and what is as close to a sure thing at the box
office as possible, the actor made a low-budget horror film for which he took
no salary but served as one of its producers. 

The result, Maggie, is a bit of a departure for
Schwarzenegger, the sort of film that no major studio would have touched as the
actor does not assume the role of the capable man of action he normally does,
but rather that of a concerned father who must face each parent’s worst
nightmare when one of his children is afflicted with a terminal disease.  In this case, the malady is necroambulism – a
fancy way of saying the afflicted it turning into a zombie – and Maggie
(Abigail Breslin), Wade’s (Schwarzenegger) oldest is the victim in
question.  Having been infected while
away from home, the young woman is starting to show the effects of the disease
as infected parts of her body – marked by sections of rapidly decaying flesh,
embroidered by angry, black web-like markings – are becoming more
numerous.  Wade is told that there is no
cure for this condition and before it runs its course, his daughter’s eyes will
cloud over, she’ll lose her appetite, her sense of smell will grow more acute
and ultimately she will become more aggressive and begin to eat other’s
flesh.  There is no cure to this and Wade
is told that best he can do is make his daughter comfortable as it takes its
toll.

The film smacks of the sort of disease-of-the-week plot that
would propel movies-of-the-week that once were fodder for network television
stations.  We and Wade are subjected to a
long, inexorable death watch in which difficult moral choices must be made and
the strength of each person’s faith is called into question.  (Wade’s wife and Maggie’s stepmom Caroline
(Joely Richardson) flies the coop when the going gets too tough). Equally
agonizing are the attempts at normalcy the characters undertake, a form of
denial that seems particularly cruel. 
Perhaps the most poignant scene in the movie takes place between Maggie
and an old flame of hers in which they share an awkward kiss, knowing full well
that they’ll never fully experience the sort of emotional or physical intimacy
that so many take for granted. 

Little in the way of drama is generated in the film as
director Henry Hobson is much more concerned with creating the sense of oppressive
dread and inescapable doom that permeates it. 
Images we’ve come to expect in movies of this sort – shots of smoldering
cities, hundreds of abandoned cars and crops being burned – are all rendered
with appropriately overcast skies and dour lighting. However, there’s no
denying that Hobson has a good eye, giving common moments a deeper and more
poignant meaning.  Wade and Maggie are
able to laugh over a terrible meal at the family dinner table, while a small
scene – the most striking in the film – in which the afflicted woman soars
towards the sky on an old rusty swing set left over from her youth, beautifully
underscores the character’s lost youth and never-to-be-seen future. 

Schwarzenegger is very good here, giving us a man who’s
doing his best to put forth a calm, optimistic face while dealing with the fear
and grief that’s roiling beneath.  The
stillness that is part and parcel of his screen persona is put to good use, as
Wade finds himself stuck, unable to act or move in a way that will save his
daughter, fearing the inevitable decision he’ll be forced to make once she
reaches the point of no return.  Here’s
hoping he’ll find a few more simple dramatic roles such as this to see how far
he can stretch himself.  Breslin holds
her own, which is no surprise as she’s grown up before our eyes, having become
an old pro at the age of 20.  She never
overplays her part –which would have been easy to do what with what Maggie goes
through – and the chemistry between her and Schwarzenegger has a ring of truth
about it.

In the end though, despite the good work by the two
principals, Maggie is brought down because it is too self-consciously
serious. The pace with which Hobson tells this story is far too slow, as if by
dwelling on its inherent tragedy he’s somehow making it more important and
heartbreaking than it actually is.  It
becomes so ponderous that he may have some viewers hoping for the inevitable
just so the film can come to an end. 
Still, there’s no denying that the two leads put their all into the
story, nearly salvaging it, while the unexpected ending is far more moving than
it has a right to be.

This article appears in May 14-20, 2015.