Save the Date (I) (2012) User Reviews

love everybody, not so much the movie

[SnoopyStyle · 6/10 · 25 August 2013]

Sarah (Lizzy Caplan) and Beth (Alison Brie) are sisters. Beth is planning a wedding to Andrew (Martin Starr). Sarah rejects live-in boyfriend Kevin (Geoffrey Arend)'s proposal and moves out. She starts dating Jonathan (Mark Webber) who has had a crush on her.

I love all of them as actors and like the characters they play. Tthe story is somewhat bland and I can't really say I love this movie. The story is fine, but it is nothing special. I do wish it has snappier dialog.

Despite its predictability, Save the Date is an enjoyable rom-com

[patryk-czekaj · 6/10 · 17 November 2012]

Though I can't deny that the film's storyline is overly clichéd and hence predictable as the story goes, I still stand by the reassuring assumption that Save the Date is one of the year's most watchable independent romantic comedies. While the film tries too hard to be fresh – and ultimately fails – it promises a perfectly laughable and heartfelt experience, making a good use of the catchy soundtrack and its cast of many promising indie-regulars. After a short conversation with Michael Mahan (during the American Film Festival in Wroclaw), the director of this picture, I rest assured that Save the Date aspires to be mostly an enjoyable and entertaining comedy and that's its unquestionable strength.

Saying that the story exemplifies a real-life one would be perhaps an overstatement, but admitting that the viewers can identify with the characters and the issues that they need to cope with would definitely be all right.

There is romance, sex, marriage, and pregnancy; there are break ups, fights, rock concerts, dances, and parties. Ironically so, the film doesn't seem dull even though it is a mash-up of all those things.

What's more, as corny as it may sound, Save the Date illustrates everything that the word 'indie' brings to mind these days: indie music, indie actors, indie dialogues (words like 'like', 'awesome', 'cool', 'dude' – you know what I mean), indie vibe even.

Save the Date is definitely not a movie for everyone. It's more of an evening-on-the-couch type of thing than a real deal, but still I would recommend it to everyone who is in need of a light-hearted kind of entertainment. Also, admirers of Lizzie Caplan will observe how she – once again – shows her true potential, gradually turning into a rom-com favorite.

A little generic but a good movie. If you liked Your Sisters Sister you will like this as well. I thought it was OK. I say B

[cosmo_tiger · 7/10 · 3 March 2013]

"Are you happier?" Sarah (Caplan) is starting a new life living with her boyfriend but she isn't totally sure that is what she wants. After a few months she is starting to relax when out of nowhere he proposes to her. After saying no she moves out and isn't sure what to do next. The whole time this is going on her sister is getting ready to marry his best friend. I will start by saying I know the movie isn't geared toward me (being a man) but I did think it was OK. It is a little cookie cutter and the "twists" you can almost feel coming the entire time. If you have seen the movie Your Sisters Sister this is very comparable to that one although I thought that was a little better. As far as a date movie goes there are better and more romantic choices but this is not a bad movie to watch with your significant other. Pretty much if you liked Your Sisters Sister you will like this one as well. Overall, a little generic but overall a good movie. I give it a B.

Average in every way

[xyz72 · 4/10 · 5 June 2013]

I had high expectations for a comedy starring Alison Brie and Lizzy Caplan and boy was I let down.

Save the Date is a basic romantic comedy, 2 sisters with different views on relationships, love, sex and marriage. 3 guys. Angst, drama, bad puns and ridiculously predictable plot lines.

Is this a bad film? No. Is it in any way, shape or form worth a recommendation? No. I can't even think of more things to write about the movie because it was such a generic film. If you love one of the actors involved - go on, watch it - but if you want to see a good (romantic) comedy there are a thousand other, better choices.

Narcissistic Pap

[zingkey · 3/10 · 11 March 2013]

This film achieves one thing very well; it is an expose on narcissism while being completely unaware of it. It's so ironic it's good and awful at the same time. The only likable character in the entire movie is Andrew, Beth's fiancée, and his role is quite marginal. The rest of the characters are completely self involved and overly dramatic. The heroine, whom I'm sure was meant to be endearing and enthralling, but is neither, is an "artist" who is evidently inspired by the most important thing in her life; herself. Every work of art she creates is a rendition of some "monumental" moment in her life. I hated this movie because of each characters' self aggrandizement but I loved this movie because I believe it is a pretty accurate depiction of the prolonged adolescent youths of modern day LA. It would be one thing to overtly address/discuss the narcissistic tendencies of each character but some of the "message," which is so so subtle would have been lost. If the movie had acknowledged the blatant theme of narcissism I may have had more sympathy for the characters (which I would prefer to do when watching a film) but it was never acknowledged, it was presented as acceptable, normal, even admirable behaviour and for that reason I couldn't stand any of the characters. No punchline was funny, no pain was potent, no fear, disappointment or happiness was empathetic. They were all just unlike-able people. I'm sure it was never the intention of the director, writer or actors to name and identify the overriding theme of the film. They were all, most likely, completely oblivious to the subject matter of the film and that's what makes it so perfect. If they knew what they were doing I give them major props for being so true to the nature of narcissism and hiding the theme so plainly in sight. Besides enjoying the unintentional subject matter this movie was terrible, boring, bromidic and cliché.

Ideological subterfuge

[gabriella-672-700104 · 3/10 · 29 April 2013]

Kevin is stupid, Beth is obnoxious, the bookshop is boring, marriage is so not cool, so Sarah is entitled to behave like an irritatingly narcissistic adolescent (especially since she is so pretty). No material problems get in the way of Sarah's self-centered, vacuous life. She doodles and it leads to a solo exhibition that even gets reviewed by Artforum. Now, come on! That almost makes the movie veer into surrealism! Enter considerate, whale-loving Jonathan. Although I personally find his squirming body language rather distasteful, the script tells me I'm supposed to think he's cute. There is an epic (as in unbelievably corny) scene with him cuddling the retrieved cat on the stairs. This (of course) signals that it's time for Sarah to settle into conventional child-rearing mode. And sis opportunely turns nice and understanding. Problem solved. It all happened so quickly I didn't even have time to start feeling sorry for the boring characters. Honestly, there's something disturbingly insidious about this movie camouflaged as an indie film. I have an eerie suspicion it was funded by the pro-life lobby in an attempt to get the slackers and dudes back on the baby-making track. The film ends suddenly - because, I guess, it has to, since the story would have turned painfully mundane from then on. (Unless, of course, Jonathan is a psychopath and the screen goes black because he flips and applies a hatchet not too gently to her head when she tells him she's pregnant. Now *that* would at least have made this film mildly interesting.)

A Great Date Movie

[KM_391 · 9/10 · 18 February 2012]

Save the Date is a very enjoyable romantic comedy with a great cast and a fine script. No, it doesn't have any explosions or aliens from Mars – but neither does my life, so I could really identify with the characters in this little film. Lizzy Caplan is the shining light here, as the non- committal heroine, Sarah. She's joined by a number of actors with familiar faces, if not well- known names, ranging from Mark Webber as the new guy in her life, to her former "Freaks and Geeks" cast member, Martin Starr, who has graduated from playing Bill Haverchuck, perhaps the nerdiest character ever to hit television, to credible roles like this one, as Andrew, a rock drummer and future brother-in-law to Sarah. There's also some fine work by Geoffrey Arend, as Kevin, Sarah's fiancée at the story's start. The laughs are genuine and the characters are likable. As in the case of most rom-coms, you will not have to bust out your thinking cap to follow it or guess where it may lead, but then what's wrong with that? It's good clean fun all around.

Thanks but no thanks!

[twilliams76 · 4/10 · 3 January 2013]

You don't really have to Save the Date as it isn't really worth watching. Lizzy Caplan (Cloverfield, Bachelorette) stars as indecisive Sarah, who runs from her long-term relationship with a musician (Geoffrey Arend - 500 Days of Summer, Devil) when he decides to propose to her during the encore of one of his concerts. Sarah's sister Beth (Alison Brie - "Community", "Mad Men") is getting married and while she loves her sister they don't always get along (and Sarah NEVER takes her advice). We get an hour and a half of this as Sarah starts a new relationship with Jonathan (Mark Webber - For a Good Time Call, Scott Pilgrim vs the World) but then begins to question that too when he turns out to be "too good".

This is another tale of a thirtysomething struggling to figure things out ... and this could become a brand new sub-genre of drama. Save the Date doesn't really give an audience anything new to enjoy or appreciate cinematically ... we are just getting another version of this oft-told experience/story. As this one never rises above what we have already seen, it isn't anything to recommend (unless you really like Caplan of course ... whom I wish would get the perfect role someday -- and this isn't it!).

Thanks for asking us to Save the Date, but I will regrettably decline as there is surely something more interesting to watch.

Inauthentic and Intolerable

[LeonLouisRicci · 3/10 · 2 August 2013]

This look in on those Young Adult Singles with prolonged Teen attitudes with a free Spirit seems, Today, dated and worn out. These Angst Driven Counter Culture Movies and Comics were all the rage, back then. Ghost World (2001), was one of the best. But this is no Ghost World. It is a prefabricated and phony "insight" into the narcissistic World of self involved dullard's who pretend they have something to say, through Art.

The Truth is, these People and their Art are neither profound or engaging. The Band screams...Ba-Ba-Ba-Ba-Ba-Ba-Baaaaby(that's all the lyrics). That might have been Cool when the Virbrators did it in the late 70's. She of lead Character Status, is an "Artist". Her Drawings make most Underground Comics look simply sublime.

In fact, all the Characters in this shallow swill are unlikeable and for that matter barely seem real. They are not even interesting Caricatures. Things move along with the Romance part of this Rom-Com that isn't much more than at best voyeuristic-ally cringe worthy or just plain unattractive. The Com part of this Rom-Com comes, and don't hold your breath, through uncomfortable situations and ridiculous telegraphed set-ups (packing dirty dishes because Her new place has a dishwasher). How rebellious.

That's about as anti-establishment as this thing gets as it also takes swipes at conventional things like traditional relationships and Weddings, but it all seems so fake and forced that this turns into a by the numbers exercise purposely, predictably, and painfully going outside the lines.

sorry world ! martin starr was great though

[mehobulls · 5/10 · 29 August 2020]

While the story was not that original the performances were great as was the cinematography. However, given the cast I expected this to be a lot funnier than it was.

Not worth your time.

[karthal · 1/10 · 15 July 2013]

It has characters that are vaguely interesting but eventually I really didn't care who anyone ended up with. They were all mostly just mean or sad and made a half hearted attempt to rally at the end that left me emotionally uninvested. The ending was terrible and if I actually had liked the characters I might have cared. I was just thinking the other day that I generally like all movies. But alas no.

If you want to watch a movie where characters are lost and seem to want to stay lost and further seem happy being lost and communicating poorly and blaming everyone else for their problems then this movie is for you. The characters clearly have the emotional depth of a kiddy pool.

Kaplan says so much without saying a lot

[bob_meg · 9/10 · 13 December 2012]

It's interesting how long Save the Date has been available on PPV and it's only earned a few reviews. I think this movie will do well on wide release, but it's likely to polarize audiences...I can see people either loving or hating it.

It's far from the traditional RomCom that pleases everyone, but for those who've been through their share of relationship hells and heavens, you'll find a lot to relate to here, and the beauty of Save the Date is that it does it in a chillingly realistic, yet touching way.

Much of this understatement is played with an almost desperate intensity by Lizzy Kaplan, in what many have termed a breakthrough performance (it is). She plays Sarah, a manager of a small bookshop who's pretty much "along for the ride" dating band leader Kevin (Geoff Arend). They seem content enough, yet there are small clues early in the film that something is "off", and when Sarah's best friend (the bubbly Allison Brie) is given a ring by Kevin's drummer (an overdue part in the limelight for the hilarious Martin Starr), it prompts Kevin to do something truly morityfing --- mortifying, that is, if you DON'T want it to happen: he proposes to Sarah in front of a crowded bar band audience and she chokes, a hundred camera phone close by to broadcast the humiliation for weeks to come on You Tube.

The majority of the film follows Sarah as she rebounds to a relationship with good guy Johnathan (Mark Webber) and struggles with a lot of very esoteric issues NOT usually dealt with in "light entertainment": is Sarah in love or like with Johnathan? Is she over Kevin completely? Just what is her freaking problem with commitment and intimacy, anyhow? A lot of these questions will irritate people, but they intrigued me, especially as played out by Kaplan, who is very adept at saying a lot with even the slightest gestures and facial ticks.

Add to this Brie's rock-solid true-to-life support, Martin Starr's deadpan ad-libbed one-liners, and Geoff Arrend's music (his song "Accidents" is truly a beautiful little two-minute piece of heaven) and you have a very unique human comedy that could give you something to think about, in addition to something to swoon over.

20 Something garbage but with less substance than actual garbage

[indiedavid · 2/10 · 6 October 2015]

Lizzy Caplan is always amazing but nothing else related to this film was. Everything from dialogue, cinematography, characters, etc. is just recycled material from 50 other films that were released over the past two decades. The angst, tribulations and self doubt that every 28 year old film character experiences but none of the real world does, is at the point of absurdity. I have no idea how these hacks get this bland trash produced and distributed but I presume special favors are exchanged in hotel rooms to make it happen.

From a production perspective, I stopped counting the continuity errors, inconsistent sound and lighting and wardrobe errors. I did watch until the end because Lizzy Caplan can make anything aesthetically appealing but I tuned out of the dialogue about 45 minutes into the film so I honestly don't really know what happened in the last act.

Lizzy Caplan & Alison Brie Should Have Saved Themselves From This Awful Film

[FilmMan47 · 2/10 · 20 February 2015]

this movie is a total mess just where is the script for this project one may ask when the credits roll.

save the date 2012 is another usual Rom com with distasteful twists and turns even after the ending it lefts the viewers confused and took them for granted in near 2 hours runtime.

the narrative,characters including dialogs nothing seem to work here because of the stupid premise.

what cast its just 2 hot women Lizzy Caplan & Alison Brie wasting their talents here in few scenes involving kissing men then faking orgasm like ah ooh eh that's about it i mean why did they signed the contract for this crap.

the plot:after Sarah rejecting her boyfriends proposal for marriage in public leaving him in a humiliating situation days later she goes on to another relationship just to ruin her sister beth the no Brainers life as beth is busy for her wedding plans.

these sisters are idiots and those men were bigger idiots who dated them failing to realize these ladies are trouble and confused walking crackpots.

beth and Sarah never seem to do anything that made them appear like sisters there is no love between them it is just fighting,sex,crying and more nonsense of emotional drama.

save the date is a wrong title for this film it should have been save yourself from this torture in name of comedy,waste of time & money there was a solid chance this film would have looked better if only the ending was done in a proper manner but sadly the efforts fall short here.

Overall Save The Date 2012 is not even recommended for die hard fans of Lizzy Caplan if you like her try masters of sex a great TV show my rating for this is 2/10 Avoid It.

(Spoiler Alert) - But who cares, honestly.

[janetki-imdb · 4/10 · 26 February 2015]

How typical about a dude making a movie about women. Why not try having a woman make a movie about sisters so that it has some semblance of reality? Sure, have some men that are one-dimensionally good, pure, honest, lovable. And two women who are CRAZY. One that is a version of a manic pixie dream girl. I say this because it is uncertain why seemingly good men fall on their faces for her. And the other sister an extreme of the spectrum: wedding crazy. Seems to be man's idea of an abortion: have a scene about a "WOMEN'S CLINIC" that can only = abortion; and that abortion is obviously TERRIBLE, GRAY, and EVIL. And also is a typical man's fantasy where he casts women that are mind-bogglingly physically out-matched by their male counterparts. Waste of decent actors and just fundamentally wrong.

Really only for Lizzy Caplan or Alison Brie completists

[RMurray847 · 5/10 · 8 January 2021]

SAVE THE DATE just doesn't quite work. I didn't actively dislike the movie, but when it was all over, it just sort of sat there without leaving any kind of impression to speak of.

The main character is played by Lizzy Caplan, and right there you know you'll have something interesting. While not the greatest actress of all time by a mile, she brings a certain energy and commitment to her performances that makes even a throwaway character (like the one in CLOVERFIELD) somehow the most interesting person in the film. She's a bookstore manager who is also seemingly on the cusp of breaking out as a visual artist (her first show is coming up). She dating the lead singer of a popular regional rock band, and they're moving in together. In the background, her sister (Alison Brie) is engaged to the guitarist in the same band (Martin Starr, giving a performance quite a long way off from his work in stuff like SILICON VALLEY...I mean that in a good way, he's showing some range here.) But Caplan doubts this is the relationship for her, and things unravel early on (and somewhat spectacularly too).

Caplan and her boyfriend are left somewhat adrift. The boyfriend pines, hopes for a reunion even though he's seething with anger, etc. Caplan professes to be happy, but it's clear she isn't. And her sister is oddly resentful of Caplan choosing this time to distract from her own upcoming nuptials. The relationship of the two is very much strained. They know each other better than anyone else knows them...and they love each other but don't always like what they see in the other.

Anyway, this makes it sound like SAVE THE DATE is a pretty heavy drama. It's not. But it's also not light-footed or light-hearted enough to be a full on "rom com." It falls in between and this is the most unfortunate thing. It's not funny enough to be a memorable comedy. It doesn't dig deep enough to be a really meaningful drama. And Caplan's character is difficult to like. She hems and haws and never REALLY seems to understand that her actions have consequences on the happiness or lack thereof of the people closest to her. Brie comes off as a bit shrewish and one-dimensional, and is thus also a little difficult to like.

Yes, real life is a bit messy and sloppy. We aren't always likeable and we often aren't our best selves. But for a movie, we should at least CARE about how things turn out for many of the characters. We're asked to invest in these folks for a couple of hours, and the best films make it easy. This film makes it hard. I rooted (to some extent) for Caplan, but mostly because of how much I liked her in, oh, MASTERS OF SEX or PARTY DOWN or even TRUE BLOOD or CASTLE ROCK. It's possible that Caplan fell short as an actor in this film, but I think the writing and direction were the true issues. The directing was uninspired, at best. It didn't even do a good job really establishing a sense of place (at the end, my wife asked me, "where did that movie take place?" and I had to really think about it.) The writing was ambitious, I would say, but is having a couple "meet cute" in a bookstore really something we can accept anymore? That felt so terribly lazy.

So, while I didn't feel I had truly wasted my time watching this, and while I was reasonably diverted...you can certainly find many better rom-coms or rom-dramas out there that will serve you even better.

Not a Rom-Com

[soerenbruns · 9/10 · 12 August 2016]

There is something I need to point out first: I normally reserve the 10 stars for films I consider absolute masterpieces, meaning I do not give them away lightly. But in this case I felt the urge to counter the ridiculously low rating it has got here. If this wasn't so unjust, I would give it 7 stars.

When it comes to Save the Date, it is one of those films where I read the reviews and wonder if I have seen the same film as the critics. Apart from the at best average ratings it is constantly described as just another by-the-numbers rom-com. However, Save the Date has definitely more depth than this assertion would have you believe.

Following a young woman - Sarah played by Lizzie Caplan - who walks out on her boyfriend's (Geoffrey Arend) marriage proposal in front of a whole crowd and then quickly falls in love again, the film depicts its characters and the emotional turmoil they go through in a very intimate way. It has some funny moments, but for the most part it is rather dramatic, culminating in a heart-breaking scene at the end brilliantly played out by Caplan and Alison Brie - magnificent as always- who plays her sister Beth.

Save the Date stands out for me, because the script is so masterfully brought to life by each actress and actor that you instantly feel involved in the scenes. It had me thinking I was really there and not just watching whether it was in rather lively settings like the bar where Sarah learns that she will get an exhibition for her drawings (which is one of the more implausible plot lines of the film as her drawings are very simplistic) or whether I witnessed Beth and her fiancé (Martin Starr) arguing about her behaviour towards Sarah. At every point of the film I was invested and I truly cared about the characters' fate, which just doesn't happen with standard rom-coms marked by flat characters and predictable plots. I am happy to have stumbled upon this indie gem.

Yup - this s*cks

[av_m · 1/10 · 12 January 2024]

There is no redeeming value to any aspect of this thing.

Let's start w. Direction and cinematography - how much do you like to look at people's dirty after-meal sinks, tables and other slovenly housekeeping - not much?, so too for what the director and camera crew choose to splay before your watching eyes.

OK, next up, audio - musical scoring - so very very predictable, adult men still doing adolescent garage band "cool".

Script and dialogue - omg - how much do you like HEARING people have sex while, at the same time joshing with each other about their farts - WITH their pet cat crawling all over them in the same bed - oh yeah, it's that disgusting - and, again, somehow didn't catch how very repulsive that visual is - not the director, note the cinematographer, not the editor, not the producers - the the team aesthetics on this one.

The characters - not any one of them - NONE of the them - anybody you would ever ever want to know, stuck working with, live in the vicinity of, or even have to wait behind in the grocery store line - just miserable self-centered non-descripts.

SKIP THIS ONE!!!

I watched this cause of the Voyers movie on Prime!

[juanmuscle · 10/10 · 23 September 2021]

Cause of the writer/director and so I watched this one that came out in 2012! And it was excellent so cute and fun and sweet I love the character from White Boyz , he really rocked and he was really sweet! I love the cat too, she man cat thing was funny and I loved everything about this , great writing and fun way they intertwined the characters to bring about a fun sweet conclusion! I really enjoyed and can't wait for more from this dude and everyone in here did a great job!