One Day

So even though I'd heard bad reviews about this movie, I still wanted to see it because it looked like a cute little love story and I usually like Anne Hathaway. The movie did pretty well overseas and took in a total of $56 million (with only $13 million in domestic sales) and made a nice profit from it's $15 million budget.

The movie is based on a book of the same name about two friends who are almost lovers and the story shows them on the same day, July 15th, for twenty years. Before seeing the movie I thought that they met up on the same day every year but thankfully the story just shows where they are on that day. It starts back in 1988 and goes up to 2011 and it's set in England.

Well the whole premise of the movie is quite gimmicky, but gimmicks can be sweet for a nice little fluffy romantic comedy - which this turned out not to be. It tried to be a realistic adaptation of this couple's life, which is fine but through in the gimmick of showing them on the same day for twenty years and it's like it was mixing it's signals. It also got very distracting trying to keep up with the changes from year to year. As endearing as Anne Hathaway can be, I did not like her character very much nor did I like Jim Sturgess'. Hathaway was weak and waited her whole life basically for a man that did not have very many redeeming qualities, if any. Yes, that is quite realistic because there are tons of women such as that out there, but that doesn't mean they're likeable or at the least bit entertaining. And plain and simple, Jim Sturgess' character was just an ass. So the gimmickyness (that's totally a word) was distracting, then the characters were not very likable (in my opinion). Their courtship was drawn out so long that by the time they did get together, the buildup was gone. Add to the mix the horrible ending. I'm not a fan of the ending, again yes it's very realistic but this movie was trying to be too many things at once and the first half it was trying to be a romantic comedy which totally kills the mood with the second half/ending of the movie.

Plot aside, they did a great job of recreating the 90's in this movie. The wardrobe, set design, and especially hair was fantastic. Really captured the essence of the time period. The titles were nicely done. The soundtrack was also very nostalgic.

So even though I'm not a fan of the plot, the actors did great. Anne Hathaway played the role well, even if I wasn't a fan of the character. I've also read a lot of criticisms of her accent, but I didn't really notice anything, but I'm not an expert on British accents. The only real fakes I can usually spot are the horrible southern drawls that some attempt. In any event her character was much more likable than Sturgess'. Don't get me wrong, Sturgess did a great job as well especially with his scenes near the end of the movie.

In the end, I wasn't a fan of this movie. It's hard for me to not like something about a movie if a lot of effort was put into it and I did enjoy the cinematic elements and the actor's performances. I just didn't care for the characters or the story. The gimmick of the one day thing took away from the seriousness they were trying to achieve with the story. I'm all for realistic relationship movies, i.e. Blue Valentine, but you can't send mixed signals, at least in my opinion. It's as if one half of the movie was a romantic comedy, although a little slow and boring, and the second half was a heartfelt drama. "She made you decent and in return you made her so happy, so happy."