Margo, Lincoln and Maisie would make a lovely family.
Susanna is a bitch who does not deserve children. She destroys everyone she comes in contact with.
Beale is just not there enough, and although he is a nice enough person, he is not a good father.
Why is everyone judging the mother harder than the father? Susanna is self-centered and immature and takes her daughter for granted and at the same time is terrified of losing her. She loves Maisie but she isn't a good parent.
Maisie's dad is just as bad as she. He isn't a nice enough person more than Susanna is. He's always away on some trip and is so caught up in himself that he forgets to add his new wife's name to his lease so she's locked out of her own home. He's just absent from Maisie's life.
At least Susanna shows some redemption in the end when she lets Maisie stay with Lincoln and Margo. She finally see that her daughter is a real person with her own wants and needs and feelings. I higly doubt Maisie's dad is going to find time out of his busy schedule to have the same revelation.
I agree that both parents deserve harsh criticism, but Suzanna's anger issues and lack of awareness were enough to make me judge her a bit more harshly than Maisie's absentee father. Neither should have ever been parents, as evidenced by the fact that they were both unable or unwilling to put the needs of their child above their own.
In my opinion, the worst thing for a child is to live in fear of a parent, and despite Suzanna's realization at the end of the film, it was clear that Maisie had feared her for quite some time before that incident. Thankfully for her, she had two lovely and caring people in her life that could potentially offset some of the damage done by both of her unfit parents.
Perhaps Suzanna truly had a groundbreaking moment and wound up turning things around completely with the way that she approached caring for her daughter. This is probably a great deal more likely than her father having a change of heart and returning to play an active role. Regardless, Lincoln and Margo were infinitely more qualified to care for Maisie.
Both parents are equally in-human, both steps are naïve and foolish to think they can make those kinds of changes by marrying stupid fresh divorcés and fighting ex-es. It is a horrible situation all around. Such people should not breed.
***So I've seen 4 movies/wk in theatre for a 1/4 century, call me crazy?**