** I swear this is a chick flick you'll like it's the romantic comedy that doesn't feel like a romantic comedy. You're boyfriend can actually watch this one.
Screen this movie :)
8/10
The movie opens with Ryan Reynolds character, Will picking up his daughter from school. The location is New York and it's filmed in sort of a cool way, a double frame montage with wipe film cuts, hence it doesn't feel too much like a romcom right from the start. When the movie starts off it looks like it's going to be a bookend movie, but then closer to the end we take a break from the "story" and enter present day life with Will, his daughter and ex-wife Sarah. The movie starts off with Will's 11 year old daughter, Maya (played by Abigail Breslin) learning about sex at school and immediately wanting to know the story of her now divorced parents and how they met. (I love how the movie portrays all the kids being freaked out and having a meltdown and the school looks like a zoo following sexual education class.) Maya however is calm, but curious and persistant to hear the story of her parents which her dad immediately dismisses as "complicated."
It's really interesting to see Ryan Reynolds being portrayed as a dad in this movie, since everyone else just loves to cast him in these heartthrob bachelor of the year roles. Abigail Breslin has always been a talented child star from the beginning. She does a convincing job of portraying a typical kid without being precocious. The way she says, " Trust me Dad, you're not happy," with endearment and realistic honesty shows a mature skill that she possesses as an actor that most actors lack, the ability to act and actually make us believe it. Plus her character in the movie is young and age appropriate, but has the intuition of a woman which is comical because it's something Will lacks as a man concerning his own story.
What you should know is that there are 3 women in this story. When Maya finally makes her dad give in to telling her the story, we go right into the first story of Will's first girlfriend, Emily. Will is a young, ambitious recent college graduate who has a dream of becoming the "President of the United States," and is the loyal and beloved boyfriend of Emily. In order to pursue his dreams of becoming president he moves to New York where he becomes a typical man-boy, but is still just a good kid with a clingy girlfriend.
While Will struggles doing coffee runs and guinea pig jobs he meets April, a young woman who has the cynical freshness of a counterculture hipster, except she stands for "nothing." (But she's counterculture so really she does stand for something.) Isla Fisher creatively portrays a too cool for school New Yorker which is such a contrast vs. her character in "Confessions of a Shopaholic," even though this movie comes before the latter. And then there's Summer, (Rachel Weisz) who is a combination of an ordinary, yet sultry woman, a young journalist and a rolling stone.
As Maya says this movie is a true "love story mystery." The movie would be categorized as a "romantic comedy," but lacks the typical somewhat annoying elements and vices of a romantic comedy. Such as the predictable cliche romantic moments, the stupid lines, and wrapping up an entire love story in two hours. The characterization is actually well done, and you will probably become attached to at least one girl. (P.S. my girl won, but I won't tell who I was rooting for) It's inevitably true you will become a cheering squad for at least one girl. And most importantly this is the first and only romantic comedy that actually portrays love for what it is, complicated. :)
Screen this movie :)
8/10
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| imdb.com |
The movie opens with Ryan Reynolds character, Will picking up his daughter from school. The location is New York and it's filmed in sort of a cool way, a double frame montage with wipe film cuts, hence it doesn't feel too much like a romcom right from the start. When the movie starts off it looks like it's going to be a bookend movie, but then closer to the end we take a break from the "story" and enter present day life with Will, his daughter and ex-wife Sarah. The movie starts off with Will's 11 year old daughter, Maya (played by Abigail Breslin) learning about sex at school and immediately wanting to know the story of her now divorced parents and how they met. (I love how the movie portrays all the kids being freaked out and having a meltdown and the school looks like a zoo following sexual education class.) Maya however is calm, but curious and persistant to hear the story of her parents which her dad immediately dismisses as "complicated."
It's really interesting to see Ryan Reynolds being portrayed as a dad in this movie, since everyone else just loves to cast him in these heartthrob bachelor of the year roles. Abigail Breslin has always been a talented child star from the beginning. She does a convincing job of portraying a typical kid without being precocious. The way she says, " Trust me Dad, you're not happy," with endearment and realistic honesty shows a mature skill that she possesses as an actor that most actors lack, the ability to act and actually make us believe it. Plus her character in the movie is young and age appropriate, but has the intuition of a woman which is comical because it's something Will lacks as a man concerning his own story.
What you should know is that there are 3 women in this story. When Maya finally makes her dad give in to telling her the story, we go right into the first story of Will's first girlfriend, Emily. Will is a young, ambitious recent college graduate who has a dream of becoming the "President of the United States," and is the loyal and beloved boyfriend of Emily. In order to pursue his dreams of becoming president he moves to New York where he becomes a typical man-boy, but is still just a good kid with a clingy girlfriend.
While Will struggles doing coffee runs and guinea pig jobs he meets April, a young woman who has the cynical freshness of a counterculture hipster, except she stands for "nothing." (But she's counterculture so really she does stand for something.) Isla Fisher creatively portrays a too cool for school New Yorker which is such a contrast vs. her character in "Confessions of a Shopaholic," even though this movie comes before the latter. And then there's Summer, (Rachel Weisz) who is a combination of an ordinary, yet sultry woman, a young journalist and a rolling stone.
As Maya says this movie is a true "love story mystery." The movie would be categorized as a "romantic comedy," but lacks the typical somewhat annoying elements and vices of a romantic comedy. Such as the predictable cliche romantic moments, the stupid lines, and wrapping up an entire love story in two hours. The characterization is actually well done, and you will probably become attached to at least one girl. (P.S. my girl won, but I won't tell who I was rooting for) It's inevitably true you will become a cheering squad for at least one girl. And most importantly this is the first and only romantic comedy that actually portrays love for what it is, complicated. :)
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