You, Me and Him

I was fortunate to watch "You, Me and Him" at a screening this week and must say it was a delightful British comedy with a much more current twist on the usual rom-com. A stellar cast that made me laugh out loud, but also shed a tear. Go and see it, highly recommended.

I was very excited to see this as I am a big fan of David Tennant, but sadly this film left me with a sinking feeling by the time it was over.

The good: I am amazed they were able to make this film with a budget of under $160,000. That is incredible and I give the filmmakers huge kudos for that. There were also several good to great performances. Faye Marsay was wonderful, as were David Tennant and Sarah Parrish. And I even laughed once or twice.

The bad: The writing was not good. It doesn't matter how top notch the talent is, the writing dragged them down. There were moments that were just so ridiculous (and not in a good way) that my suspension of disbelief was compromised and I just kept repeating: this is awful, who thought this was a good idea, etc.

Another big problem I had was that there was very little chemistry between the two main characters (supposedly lesbians in a loving relationship). We don't see much evidence of this at all (it was more being told something vs being shown something). The women hardly touched, hardly kissed, and most of the time didn't seem like they even liked each other. For a romantic comedy, there was not a lot of romance. Instead we start the film at two truly horrible decisions being made that should make any sane person turn tail and run from such dysfunction. Most of the film has the two people not even talking let alone trying to fix their relationship. By the end of the film there is a voiceover sort of giving a recap and it's not clear whether the two are even together. I don't consider it a successful romcom if you can't see whether two people are together, but need to wait until you are told whether they are or aren't. Again, I blame the writing and directing choices.

I debated whether or not to include a spoiler, and I won't. BUT there is an event that happens in the film that made me so angry to have watched it, because I thought I was going to be watching an edgy though fun and light hearted romcom. It was traumatic and heartbreaking and not implied in any official chatter around the film. I almost stopped watching right then and there. This film is being sold as a rom-com, but people should know going into it that it is in no way fun or light hearted.

First of all, the ten star reviews, were they written by cast members? No way on this Earth is this a perfect movie.

Pluses, the cast. Marsay and Punch are both pretty good, they manage to lift the script somewhat because they are both damn fine actresses. The mouse is cute.

Negatives, just about everything else. It's a hideous script, some of the lines are cringe worthy.

Question, has David Tennant ever looked more incredibly sexy than he does here? Oh my god the man is glorious, I am slightly surprised he agreed to do this.

Decent, 5/10.

No spoilers here. This is just the best fun ever. Well done Showtime for snapping it up. Written and helmed by Daisy Aitkens it does what it's supposed to; makes 'em laugh, makes 'em cry. But mainly laugh. With a rumoured budget of only $3million God knows how they managed it. I guess if you get the script right the good actors will follow and the young Brit pack guys seem to have piled in here. David Tenant, Lucy Punch and Fay Marsay headline an excellent cast aided and abetted by the usual gang of oh so polished and subtle UK character actors that we expect in these Downton days. It is about two women, a couple couple, who despite being total opposites, go together as comfortably as yin and yang symbols. One is the business woman with her sharp suits and mind, the other an anguished artist with seemingly permanent artists block. Their warmth, vulnerability and loving humor gives the movie its whole feelgood thing. Then they get pregnant at the same time. And there is the third side to the triangle in the form of David Tenant who goes into a hilarious new high gear as the neighbour from one of the outer suburbs of hell. But no more. Go see, have a great laugh and take a tissue.... For the tears thank you people!

Looking through the reviews, so many people pulled this movie down, but it really wasn't that bad at all. Yes, it's a little clishé (or a lot...), and it's not a world-changing movie, but it is a fun watch!

Negatives: My biggest issue was (as someone else also mentioned) the lack of chemistry between the two main characters. You could blame it on the actors, but I also think Alex and Olivia just didn't get enough sweet moments in the beginning to solidify their love for the viewer. It also uses a lot of stereotypes, that can be offputting to some. I also can't really comment on how accurate this is, as I am not a lesbian and never had a baby.

Positives: The overall acting is very good, I especially loved David Tennant (he was actually the reason I started watching this in the first place). I swear he can just make any character work. I also liked the character arcs in the story, and how much everyone improved by the end. The story/plot was good too, and I think the technical aspects of it were nice as well. And despite the mentioned lack of chemistry between the main pair, I still enjoyed the ending very much, it was sweet.

So, overall an alright movie, good if you just want something fun and easy to watch. I liked it, but probably won't go back to rewatch it tho.