kitncabu Reviews

Love at First Sight (I) (2023)

Charming

[8/10 · 17 September 2023]

It's hard to make a romance drama or comedy that isn't irritating or patronizing or fake. Too many lean on stock characters with average outlooks saddled with idiotic dialogue and unbelievable transitions.

This one doesn't talk down to us, is very well cast (the leads are really terrific young actors we'll no doubt see much more of - warm, appealing and subtle), and the supporting cast is delightful across the board. Great to see some familiar faces putting in some warm and sincere performances.

Writing/directing isn't trying to reinvent anything, and that's...ok. The story isn't especially challenging and locations don't particularly feature. But still, because of the real and natural appeal of the leads, its very enjoyable.

Daughter of the Bride (2023)

Lazy

[2/10 · 5 July 2023]

It feels like this movie was made by the laziest people in the world. Awful writing, lazy and unimaginative. Definitely seen Hallmark movies with more intelligence and zest. If the producers/writers had set out to kill the career of Halston Sage with this obnoxious, neurotic, poorly written character, they were doing a really good job of it for my taste. I hope it was only the cringey, badly written character, but I fear it was not. I didn't warm to her even in the most opportune comedic moments. The only redeeming feature for her in this movie was her opposite, Andrew Richardson who gives an utterly charming, subtle and warm performance. Perfectly tuned for a RomCom. She's lucky he turned up. Harden and Quinn manage their participation as well as you'd expect these two seasoned veterans to do. While Quinn came out strongest (and most grounded) Harden occasionally gives off a slight disconnect here and there. They got lucky with their fairly straightforward arcs and played them with light touches while ignoring the gaps and leaps in the writing. It feels like it was written in a hurry and no-one bothered with a second draft.