Monday 11 April 2016

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!

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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!

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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?!

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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!







9 comments:

  1. The trailers didn't even look good for this. Not sure if I will watch it or not.

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    1. I've seen worse this year so far (Get A Job) but this one is definitely a contender for Worst Movies of 2016!
      - Allie

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  2. Yeah, nothing about this looked interesting and I cannot stand Rebel Wilson (I know, blasphemy, everyone else likes her) lol

    Nice write up! I see with your grades I made the right choice in not going.

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    1. I could take her or leave her to be honest! I know Jenna loves her though.
      I don't like to tell anyone not to see something, but if it never appealed to you in the first place I'd skip it :)
      - Allie

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    2. Yes, Jenna does love her, ever since she cropped up in Bridesmaids way back when - I also think she is hilarious in person, she has such a dry humour!
      - Jen

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  3. Nice review! I liked the movie for the cast and ending, but the story was a bit all over the place. It's not particularly memorable. Unfortunately, the book wasn't much better...

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    1. You know, I had no idea it was based on a book! Terrible blogger...
      I agree, I still love the cast and the ending was fab, it should have been so much better :(
      - Allie

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  4. Hahaha at this review, loved it.

    With zero expectations heading into this one, I had a good enough time. The story is kind of dumb, the serious stuff is totally absurd (Damon Wayans Jr.'s story is RIDICULOUS), and the fact that Brie's character never interacts with the rest of them...make this movie really bad on paper.

    But it's gorgeous to look at, has a fun soundtrack and Fat Amy has some good lines...so for me, file it under 'decent'. For what it is...!

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    1. You're absolutely right! I think my problem was that I was reeeeaaally hoping this would be great, and it wasn't :(
      You can always count on Fat Amy though :)
      - Allie

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