Reviews

One-dimensional and two-dimensional characters can work for a film when the plot drives action quickly. But this film's heavy reliance on stereotypes leaves viewers caring very little for main protagonist Cassie after the first 30 minutes. The performances by Mulligan and all of her costars are solid, but the dialog and backstories of all characters are thin to the point of insulting. Examples: Apparently all 3+ of the onscreen guys who encounter drunk protagonist Cassie are single-minded jerks who cannot seem to keep their hands off her (or who gloss over her her own deceitful behavior when confronted with their own). Or a pediatric physician used to chatting up sick kids cannot seem to ask meaningful questions and pinpoint suspicious stories in the coffee shop barista he is courting. And 30-year-old Cassie's parents have never caught on that their formerly brilliant student doctor might be leading a double life despite living at home for the last 5+ years. And who knows how poor barista Cassie got the money to pull off the variety of her stunts?

An interesting plot in need of a better writer / director.

Note: contains spoiler information.

I respect that many people apparently liked this movie more than I did (6 out of 10). But I've got to say that it was too long, and it seemed to go from being a nice, quiet pastoral film with drawn-out subtleties to a Hollywoodized, over-the-top, blunt semi-comedy. It failed to appropriately admonish the main characters for their horrible behavior (Jack sleeping around with other women before his wedding, and Miles betraying Jack and then lying to Jack about it to his face). And it didn't seem to know where it was going. There was a bit of sloppy storytelling in this film, and quite a few poorly written scenes, but the worst thing of all was that the main characters had almost no redeeming qualities. In addition, every character outside the main three is 2-dimensional (or one-dimensional), and they go through an entire week-long bachelor party without once mentioning the words "bachelor party." Very odd.

There were some beautiful moments in this film, and also some hilarious moments. I definitely laughed out-loud many times, and halfway through the film thought that I liked it quite a bit. But the ending sucked, and the last half of the film ruined the chance at redemption that either character had. If any good story is about change, I don't believe we saw much change from either character at the end.

6 of 10 for me, 5/10 and 4/10 from the people I saw it with.