7/10
A Romantic Comedy That Throws You a Curve Ball
17 January 2007
Happy Accidents begins like a typical chick flick. Allow me to sum up the first few minutes of the film. Women talk about their relationships and toss photos of their awful ex-boyfriend's into a box marked the Ex-files. Tomei throws a hissy fit every few minutes and acts like she severely needs Prozac. She's in therapy for her co-dependency, quotes what her therapist tells her to do, and recites affirmations to a mirror.

I tried watching it with my boyfriend and we turned it off after 10 minutes because neither of us wanted to see an overly dramatic, nutcase whine for 90 minutes. I decided to try watching it on my own. I adored Next Stop Wonderland, so I wanted to see more from the same director/writer. Happy Accidents isn't as polished as Next Stop Wonderland and I was very surprised to find out it was made after Next Stop Wonderland.

After the first 10 minutes the film gets very strange. It is definitely not a typical romantic comedy. All of sudden turns into a sci-fi movie about 15 minutes into the film. I knew nothing about the plot before watching it and I think that really helped my enjoyment. I can usually predict where a film is going, but not this one.

The pace is a bit frenzied. Instead of exploring dating like in Next Step Wonderland, Happy Accidents focuses on one relationship. The film is actually quite funny. I convinced my boyfriend to give it a second try and he really liked it after the character Sam Deed enters the picture. Vincent D'Onofrio is perfect in the role and the script is very creative.

The over-acting in the film is a bit over-the-top for my taste and there are some weak points in the plot, but Happy Accidents is really worth watching. Just know that it gets much better after the first 15 minutes.
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