About One Day (2011)
Twenty years. Two people…
Directed by Lone Scherfig (director of An Education, Academy Award-nominated for Best Picture), the motion picture One Day is adapted for the screen by David Nicholls from his beloved bestselling novel One Day.
After one day together – July 15th, 1988, their university graduation – Emma Morley (Academy Award nominee Anne Hathaway) and Dexter Mayhew (Jim Sturgess, The Way Back, 21) begin a friendship that will last a lifetime. She is a working-class girl of principle and ambition who dreams of making the world a better place. He is a wealthy charmer who dreams that the world will be his playground.
For the next two decades, key moments of their relationship are experienced over several July 15ths in their lives. Together and apart, we see Dex and Em through their friendship and fights, hopes and missed opportunities, laughter and tears. Somewhere along their journey, these two people realize that what they are searching and hoping for has been there for them all along. As the true meaning of that one day back in 1988 is revealed, they come to terms with the nature of love and life itself.
Starring: Anne Hathaway, Jim Sturgess, Patricia Clarkson, Romola Garai, Rafe Spall
Directed by: Lone Scherfig
Runtime: 108 minutes
Studio: Universal Studios
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Review: One Day
Directed by Lone Scherfig and based on the novel by David Nicholls, One Day is the story of Emma Morley (Anne Hathaway) and Dexter Mayhew (Jim Sturgess) who first meet after graduating on 15 July 1988. They spend the night together but agree to be friends afterwards. The film then traces their lives in each of the following years, always on 15 July. As they live different lives and meet new people the audience will be left wondering whether they end up together or not.
I haven’t read David Nicholls’ novel but Mrs B has and it made her cry so I pretty much knew what was coming but that didn’t spoil things too much. Emma and Dexter are complete opposites. He comes from a wealthy family and soon finds himself working in television as a presenter. Emma’s life after university begins modestly with work in a Mexican restaurant in London. She finds romance of sorts with Ian (Rafe Spall) who professes to be a comedian but Emma doesn’t really share the sentiment. Dexter enjoys the glitz and glamour of his life with alcohol, drugs and women on tap though he is not without his difficulties, especially when he visits his mother (Patricia Clarkson) who has been diagnosed with cancer and his father (Ken Stott). Dexter visits them clearly feeling the effects of late nights and drug taking and his warned to only return when he is in a better state.
Dexter and Emma meet infrequently and things look as if they are over between them when Dexter takes Emma out for the night only to eye up any woman that passes and be generally lacking in interest about Emma. In one of the film’s best moments Emma tells Dexter she loves him but she doesn’t like what he has become and storms away. As the years pass Dexter marries and has a daughter but he and Emma are always drawn back to one another. Dexter’s career flounders while Emma begins to progress first as a teacher then a writer. We eventually come to the present day and twenty years have passed but where are our two protagonists now?
I may have rated One Day higher if I didn’t know so much about the book from Mrs B. I intend to read the book myself, but I understand some elements are missing which are critical to the characters, especially Emma. Knowing what I do about the book it is hard to look beyond some of the parts that have been removed. The film could have been extended to include some more aspects and made for a more rewarding experience. It does many things right but ends up being quite good rather than brilliant. Much has been made of Anne Hathaway’s accent, with Emma being a Yorkshire girl, and yes there are issues, quite a few, but the novel was never about the accents more about the relationship between these two people. The varying accents Hathaway seems to use can’t be avoided but I wouldn’t say they were detrimental. The premise to the book and film remains a good one though and some elements of the film remained fresh in my mind for days afterwards. If I could I’d lean towards 3.5 but having a preference for round numbers it will have to be 3.
Verdict: 3/5
(Film source: reviewer’s own copy)
Film Review: One Day | Thank you for reading Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dave
