Year: 2013
Director: Dan Mazer
Screenplay: Dan Mazer
Starring: Rafe Spall, Stephen Merchant,
Rose Byrne, Anna Farris, Simon Baker
Synopsis is here
Within fifteen minutes of screentime; the
romantic comedy I give it a year had shown its hand. The worst thing is that it only took 2 shots
for the movies narrative to fall into place. Guessing the plot so easily doesn't
make me a genius. With the amount of movies most of us watch, we all know the
narrative beats subconsciously. However the freshness is always in the way a
director arranges his scenes and moments that will disarms us. A shot that runs
a bit too long could signify a moment of perfect pitch, or give the game away.
Before the end of the first act, I knew that the third would lose its fizzle.
The film doesn’t rest on its laurels. As perfunctory
as things occur, the film’s climax gives us a nice spin on a romantic comedy
convention that even the most well versed fans may be slightly tired of. The
cast give it their all, with the likes of Stephen Merchant and Rafe Spall bring
a bit of charm to their well worn archetypes. Rose Byrne does exceedingly well
in playing a portraying a character I never wanted to see happy, while Anna
Faris becomes near unrecognisable as the slightly drippy U.S friend who decided
to go away because...well I shouldn’t say more. Not that I need to, Dan Mazer’s
screenplay and direction has humorous moments, but never really steps up to hit
the home run need to be anything more than a late night rental.
I don't expect to go into rom-coms
expecting the filmmakers to reinvent the wheel. There is a reason why we watch
these things and I give it a year does ok with most of them, I guess. But when you’re
more interested in the geographical anomalies that occur in the films London Soho
setting. Then clearly there's a disconnect.
My girlfriend who brought the film round, reprimanded me as I guessed correctly which way the film was heading. "Why can't you just watch it" she exclaimed. She's right, but it’s not my fault. She claims the film is underrated, I felt it was undercooked. Go figure.
My girlfriend who brought the film round, reprimanded me as I guessed correctly which way the film was heading. "Why can't you just watch it" she exclaimed. She's right, but it’s not my fault. She claims the film is underrated, I felt it was undercooked. Go figure.
