I'm not going to write a detailed synopsis of the film; you can get that anywhere online. This "comment" is to illustrate what I think about the movie, so you can better decide if you want to see it.
The idea is actually a good one and an alternative title such as, "A Day in a Café," really describes it better. I like that it's all based in one general location - similar to a play - and that it all occurs within a short time period of one day. It's just about in real time. I also like that almost everyone has a secret of some sort, that eventually comes out.
One thing this movie does, that I think is really creative (though isn't a new concept by any means), is it displays for us the mental picture one gets as a secret is uncovered. To understand this, imagine for a moment that your best male friend is wearing a dress and an old lady's hat. That mental image in your mind is the same image that we get to see through the character's eyes as they find out someone else's secret.
It's all slapstick comedy to the extreme, so it's all in fun. One reviewer here worried that all Americans would think all the English really act like that. That's the silliest notion in the world. Slapstick comedy is one of the oldest and best types of comedy and is familiar to us all.
Now for the not-so-great parts.
I have no problems with Americans portraying the English and vice versa, so long as its done well. Unfortunately for us though, it is not. Both Katherine Heigl and Mike Vogel need to stick to American roles. Imagine an American actor switching throughout the film between both a regional southern American dialect and one from the Bronx. Can you imagine such a horror? Well put that into British terms and this is what you get from Vogel. I never could figure out what region he was supposed to be from. There were even moments where he sounded Scottish! Heigl on the other hand lapsed between American and British, making her nationality questionable. Because of this, I kept expecting to find out that being an American schizophrenic was her secret. I'm not saying that their acting abilities were the problem, it was just their linguistic abilities.
I've also no problems with boisterous comedy either, but the comedy in this film was (for a lack of a better word) incongruent. The writing was fine and the jokes worked some of the time, but the timing was off or something. I don't believe that it was the actors or the writing at fault, but the director. Whatever it was, it made it very uneven.
I was telling my husband about it this morning. The interesting thing about this is that the movie came off funnier in my retelling of the story, then it actually was. My 19-year-old daughter entered the room to hear us laughing about the story. She asked what movie we were talking about and my husband promptly replied, "She's been laughing (very hard I might add), telling me about this movie that she supposedly didn't like for the past twenty-five minutes." Indeed!
To sum it up; if you know in advance that it's crass, off-beat, has bad timing and bad direction then you might actually enjoy it. Just keep in mind that it is loaded with errors and don't have a high expectation. Would I watch it again? Maybe, if nothing else is on. Would I buy it on DVD? Absolutely not.
The idea is actually a good one and an alternative title such as, "A Day in a Café," really describes it better. I like that it's all based in one general location - similar to a play - and that it all occurs within a short time period of one day. It's just about in real time. I also like that almost everyone has a secret of some sort, that eventually comes out.
One thing this movie does, that I think is really creative (though isn't a new concept by any means), is it displays for us the mental picture one gets as a secret is uncovered. To understand this, imagine for a moment that your best male friend is wearing a dress and an old lady's hat. That mental image in your mind is the same image that we get to see through the character's eyes as they find out someone else's secret.
It's all slapstick comedy to the extreme, so it's all in fun. One reviewer here worried that all Americans would think all the English really act like that. That's the silliest notion in the world. Slapstick comedy is one of the oldest and best types of comedy and is familiar to us all.
Now for the not-so-great parts.
I have no problems with Americans portraying the English and vice versa, so long as its done well. Unfortunately for us though, it is not. Both Katherine Heigl and Mike Vogel need to stick to American roles. Imagine an American actor switching throughout the film between both a regional southern American dialect and one from the Bronx. Can you imagine such a horror? Well put that into British terms and this is what you get from Vogel. I never could figure out what region he was supposed to be from. There were even moments where he sounded Scottish! Heigl on the other hand lapsed between American and British, making her nationality questionable. Because of this, I kept expecting to find out that being an American schizophrenic was her secret. I'm not saying that their acting abilities were the problem, it was just their linguistic abilities.
I've also no problems with boisterous comedy either, but the comedy in this film was (for a lack of a better word) incongruent. The writing was fine and the jokes worked some of the time, but the timing was off or something. I don't believe that it was the actors or the writing at fault, but the director. Whatever it was, it made it very uneven.
I was telling my husband about it this morning. The interesting thing about this is that the movie came off funnier in my retelling of the story, then it actually was. My 19-year-old daughter entered the room to hear us laughing about the story. She asked what movie we were talking about and my husband promptly replied, "She's been laughing (very hard I might add), telling me about this movie that she supposedly didn't like for the past twenty-five minutes." Indeed!
To sum it up; if you know in advance that it's crass, off-beat, has bad timing and bad direction then you might actually enjoy it. Just keep in mind that it is loaded with errors and don't have a high expectation. Would I watch it again? Maybe, if nothing else is on. Would I buy it on DVD? Absolutely not.