Save the Date

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.