This movie first snatched my attention as an obscure trailer, something that popped up while I was habitually browsing the web. From that moment I absolutely fell in love with it, it's light humour and perfect chemistry between all of the cast. It still remains to this day one of my favourite trailers of all time, and one I would routinely check in on every now and then leading up to the movie's release, so that I could remind myself why I was excited to see the actual film, and not a two minute summary. Yet I obviously had reservations. Too many of us have been betrayed by trailers, advertising movies that don't exist or are completely different to the one actually presented (and payed for). "Don't get your hopes up", I would say to myself. "There's every chance this movie will be one of the worst of the year." Then I heard reports of standing ovations at Sundance and as the generally favourable reviews began to trickle in my hopes defiantly rose. And I'm so immensely happy they did, because this movie, and it's subsequent trailer, absolutely nailed it.
The humour was refreshingly real and hilarious, as were the relationships, with the two leads Jason Sudeikis and Alison Brie absolutely deserving a mention for being particularly amazing together. A shout out to Jason Mantzoukas and Andrea Savage also - thanks to them, if you turn this movie off the moment you see the credits you're missing one of its funniest and most heartwarming parts.
However, as my title probably suggested, this movie is still a pretty by-the-numbers romcom, and is semi-predictable plot-wise (wow, I used a lot of dashes in that sentence, please forgive me). That cliché that just ran through your head when I mentioned the word romcom - yeah, it is probably in this movie. Except for kissing in the rain, surprisingly. Actually, now that I think about it, the only scene (that comes to mind) with rain even in it is the one where Sudeikis is pushed in front of and hit by a car. Okay let me revise that; only *most* of the normal romcom clichés are in this movie. But there's a reason that movie genres can become so formulaic - sometimes the formula truly does work.
With the fantastic writing and directing, the brilliant acting and helpful injection of fresh ideas into a generally stale formula, this movie manages to be truly entertaining from start to finish. I found myself intoxicated by the relationship of two wholly fictional people, engrossed in their journey both towards and away from one another. I thought the ending could have been a little more poignant and in theme with the rest of the movie, but it was still a supremely satisfying conclusion to a story I'm amazed managed to exceed my hopes and expectations. Truly, a fantastic film.
