Medical school dropout Wallace has given up on love and pretty much been a recluse for the past year. His college roommate Allan convinces him to come to a party and everything seems to take a turn for him when he meets Chantry. But that doesn’t work out well at all after walking her home and getting her number she announces she has a boyfriend.
So a romantic comedy which isn’t going to be a normal one with those opening scenes. It does make you think oh this is going to be very different, as obviously he then just throws away her number. The film is very random at times and some of the lines are really off the wall and a bit strange really. It will make you laugh though, and that is due to some very awkward moments as well.
Some of the conversations between the pair are very good as they do feel real, as you do have random conversations with your friends and talk about odd things. That’s as far as it goes really as the randomness really does take over, I remember actually thinking what on earth is going on here? – A few times actually.
The characters are quite likeable and you can understand the situation at times, but will we ever get a film that show that a man and woman can actually be just friends? I guess not really, if you think this film could be the one then it crosses way too many lines. I did like how one of the many random things they used to talk about is brought full circle in the end.
I got rather excited seeing Jemima Rooper in the film after seeing her on stage a couple of months ago in Blithe Spirit in the West End! Just a shame she didn’t have a larger role.
It felt at times though that we were missing information about the characters and other possible events had been cut from the film as it did not flow well enough for me. I’m not saying it was really bad, just a little bumpy with the story and just didn’t feel like we knew everything. At times you’re not sure who to feel sorry for, and that includes Adam (Chantry’s boyfriend).
It does go for the different approach and have heard it being compared to ‘When Harry Met Sally’ but it is not like that at all, but I can understand why it is being linked with it. The whole can a man and woman be friends thing. I do like that they went for two young actors for this one though as it always seems to be slightly older so more twenties but not a sickly rom-com.
I think the best thing about this film is that it does really try to be different and bring something else to the genre. That is why a lot of it becomes rather random, but is random a bad thing? Most people are random so this film could actually be a little more real than we think. I won’t spoil some of the funny moments but I am sure both men and women will be able to find at least one thing in the film they can relate to.
Overall the film tries really hard to be different (maybe too much at times) but this does work at times. It brings something a little off the wall and random the rom-com genre. Some of the crazy lines will make you laugh even if it is for the wrong reasons. It does have a British feel to it at times as well, but mainly set in Toronto! I also think it adds something different for Daniel Radcliffe who has now touched into a few different film genre’s post Harry Potter, always good to see what he is going to do next.