Review: How to Be Single (2016)

There’s something a little ironic about going to see How to Be Single when you’re getting married in 3 months time, accompanied by one of your bridesmaids who is getting married herself in 6 months time, and her other bridesmaid who also isn’t single. In our defence, we actually wanted to see Fifty Shades of Black, but found out the release date got pushed back, and well, we’d already seen Deadpool!  We had a similar situation where we just rocked up at the cinema and this was all that was on, I did want to see it though so it's not all bad!

How to Be Single (2016) is set in New York City and follows the lives of 6 singles living there, looking for love. Alice (Dakota Johnson) has never been single so tells her boyfriend she wants a break so she can find herself. Robin (Rebel Wilson) is single and loving it, so takes Alice under her wing to show her the ropes. Meg (Leslie Mann), Alice’s sister works too many hours as a nurse to be in a relationship, but wants to have a baby. Tom (Anders Holm) runs a bar and has tinkered with his apartment to make it the perfect bachelor’s pad. Lucy (Alison Brie) spends all her time online using the Wifi in Tom’s bar seeking her ideal partner. Finally, David (Damon Wayans Jr.) is a struggling single parent who finds it difficult opening up.

Phew, that was exhausting. I think I’ve nailed one of the problems with this movie. Too many main characters! The posters make it look like a movie about 4 single girls coming together to either help each other find love, or to simply support each other. Instead, the main story arc revolves around Alice, her sister Meg and her new friend Robin, none of whom ever actually meet Lucy in the movie, which just seemed odd. It’s like her character was just thrown in for the sake of it. On the plus side, with such a great cast, there’s bound to be a reason here for anyone to give the movie a chance!  I think they may have been going for a Love Actually/Valentines Day type thing, an ensemble cast where everyone is connected in weird ways!  However, they kind of missed the mark with forgetting to include Lucy in anything and then having characters thrown in for the hell of it....I'm talking about you Damon Wayans Jr!

This movie has been heavily marketed in the UK, and I can safely say that I’ve seen the ‘tit punch’ scene enough times to just not find it funny anymore (I laughed, a lot!). I loved the ‘dicksand’ joke but Rebel Wilson already explained it all on the Graham Norton show! Thankfully, there were still plenty of surprise funny moments, largely thanks to Rebel Wilson herself who is on top form here. Leslie Mann was also hilarious, and the scene with her talking to the baby early on was equally sweet and silly.  I thought (and I said this countless times throughout) that Wilson actually saved this movie, I'm not sure I could have say through it if i wasn't waiting for her next clanger, she was on top form.  Unfortunately, I can't say the same for anyone else or the film in general.

I think the main problem with How to Be Single is it doesn’t know what it wants to be. There weren’t enough funny moments for me to really rate it in my favourite comedies, but there were also lots of serious and heart warming moments that were wonderful, but just a bit out of place. One scene with Damon Wayans Jr. in particular had me sobbing quietly into my jumper sleeve!  The heartwarming stuff was painful to watch, completely random and I don't think added any value whatsoever, I'm feeling a bit ranty about this, can you tell?!

I’m still not 100% sure how I feel about it. The ending was good, I won’t spoil it but I started to worry it would end with everyone finding the loves of their lives, which would ruin the whole point, and it didn’t. I just think there are going to be more rom coms out this year that will be a lot better.

I think it was utterly predictable all the way through, somewhere around the half way mark they indicated that they weren't going to be predictable therefore letting the audience know they were going to do the exact opposite of what you initially expected.  predictable!! Thank god for Rebel Wilson is all I can say!

Review: Let's Be Cops (2014)

So, here's a funny story. I had been looking forward to Let's Be Cops for ages, and I wrote my review pretty much straight away, and then Jenna destroyed it. Well, what I mean is that her laptop somehow duplicated our Premium Rush review and deleted my Let's Be Cops one. Sadface! That was ages ago now, but I was just in Letterboxd when I realised I had copied and pasted my review in there! So, resurrected from the dead, here's my review!

Note to Jenna's laptop: Please be kind, I really want to publish this! Sorry!!

On a plus note, since all that happened I have managed to see the film so I can comment :-)

Let's Be Cops is a fake buddy cop movie about two friends, Ryan (Jake Johnson) and Justin (Damon Wayans Jr) who have never found their true calling in Los Angeles. They decide to move back to their home town, but first they go to a costume party as cops. It turns out that they pass for the real deal, and so the two friends pretend to be real cops, which lands them in trouble with a local crime gang.

I worried that all the funny moments would be in the trailer leaving nothing else, but I was wrong. There were plenty of moments where I laughed out loud, mainly due to the chemistry between the two main characters. I read that most of the dialogue was improvised, which worked really well. The film itself introduced a new character who I don't remember being in the trailer, Pupa, played by Planet's Funniest Animals host, Keegan-Michael Key. Pupa was hilarious. He was the highlight of the film for me!

The only thing that let the film down for me was that there was virtually nothing new brought to the table. There's the basic plot of two guys pretending to be cops, but then everything else is just a mash-up of other films I've seen. The plot was almost the same as The Heat for a start, Pupa reminded me a lot of Jamie Foxx's character in Horrible Bosses, and there was an End of Watch vibe to it all too. I can forgive it though, because it's still really funny.  

I think they were aiming for the success of The Heat but the male version but lets not kid about, this is not The Heat, this isn't even in the same area code as The Heat!  Yes it's funny but it for me it wasn't hilarious and its not at all memorable, I can run off 20 brilliant one-liners from The Heat but I am struggling to remember a single funny part from this!

I thought the soundtrack was brilliant too, once I find out what the name of that dub-step song is, it'll be playing in my little girly car as I drive to the supermarket on a Sunday morning! Hard as nails, me.

All in all, Let's Be Cops wasn't as good as I hoped it would be, but it was still a funny film and I wasn't disappointed. Bring on Horrible Bosses 2! <--- obviously this was written a while ago!! haha!

Review: Big Hero 6 (2014)

There are so many films coming out in January and I know I won’t be able to see them all. Most of them don’t even come out until the middle of the month here in the UK which doesn’t help. I was just getting ready to work out which ones to give up on when Odeon announced a preview of Big Hero 6 on the first Sunday of the year. Not wanting to say no to an amazing opportunity, and armed with a gift card from Christmas, I went with my fiance!

Big Hero 6 is Disney’s latest family animated film, featuring super-genius teenager Hiro, a giant, inflatable healthcare assistant robot called Baymax created by Hiro’s brother, and their 5 friends as they hunt down a masked villain who has stolen Hiro’s invention. There’s also an adorable animated short before the film itself called Feast which I want to dedicate a post of it’s own to at some point, because I don’t think I’ve ever felt so many emotions in 6 minutes, or cried so much in public!

Onto the feature film though now. The scene is set really well and introduces Hiro and his older brother Tadashi, who live at the top of a bakery with the owner, Cass, because this is a Disney film of course and the brothers lost their parents. Disney why! Stop throwing all the feelings at me before we’ve even begun! Not to worry though as there’s some great humourous moments before the real story kicks in.

I have so much love for Baymax. How can a healthcare robot be so darn adorable and funny all at the same time? He makes the grown ups quietly chuckle at a joke only we would understand in one minute, and the next has every child in fits of laughter with a bit of fart humour. Okay, I laughed out loud too! Honestly though, he’s a brilliant character and I want one! Did I mention he knows how to fist bump? Well, kind of!

There’s some great little easter eggs to look out for too. I imagine I missed loads but I saw one of the best Stan Lee cameos ever, and 2 familiar faces on wanted posters at the police station! Did anyone spot any others?

Moving swiftly on to something that may actually resemble a review, I thought Big Hero 6 had a really strong, if not slightly predictable plot. I can forgive that though, because it was engaging and interesting throughout. I think it’s going to appeal more to young boys, but the lack of pretty dresses and a talking snowman won’t put off the girls either. Even as a grown-up with no children of my own yet, I’m more than looking forward to the DVD release so that I can watch it again! Now to find out the name of that Fall Out Boy song, so I can amuse the rush hour traffic by singing my heart out in the car.