Un jour

Greetings from Lithuania.

I don't watch romantic movies often, but when i heard about story of "One day" i thought of giving it a chance. And it sure didn't disappoint me. This is a really good love story, told in a single day in a year in period of 23 years. Movie is beautifully filmed, with great acting by the two leads, especially from Anne Hathaway. She's just so ... beautiful in every meaning of this word. Can't wait to see her next summer in "TDKR". "One day" isn't your typical Hollywood love story and you can clearly FEEL that watching it.

Give this movie a chance and you can be really surprised that when this movie will end, you'll fell your self a little ... brighter.

"One Day", based on the novel of the same name, is the relationship of two people, Emma (Anne Hathaway) and Dexter (Jim Sturgess), as we see it on July 15th of each year. As can be expected from the nature of the story, it's a little dry, lacking in comedy. But then again, it's a romantic drama, not a romantic comedy.

As is the nature of the two media, movies can never be exactly the same as the novel. But the problem with this one is that they tried to; no story lines were removed. Almost everything was there, just shortened into mostly meaningless segments. I personally could have done with one less event in their lives, and perhaps a different ending, but they tried to be as faithful as possible.

What we have here is a movie about a relationship, but the novel was about the people. They traded in character depth and development so we can see them in their more attractive years falling in and out of love.

I wasn't very familiar with Jim Sturgess, having seen him play skinny, slightly nerdy, not as confident kids. Dexter is a different breed of guy. Just has high on self-confidence as he is on drugs and alcohol, he gets by on his looks – literally – he's a TV host. Although the different characteristics of Dexter weren't explicitly shown in the movie, Sturgess brought them out in him perfectly. Emma is a more complex character, with significant evolution to who she is throughout the years, except none of that is in the movie, so it just wasn't really possible for Hathaway to portray her as a more interesting person.

I would assume that watching "One Day" without the benefit of having read the novel would be a fairly confusing, empty experience. With the background that the novel gave me, I could fill in all the missing years and the unexplored layers to the characters, so there was still something to their relationship for me.

Director Lone Scherfig is an acclaimed contemporary film maker from Denmark with many meaningful and fine movies to her credit like Italian for Beginners, The Riot Club, Just Like Home, Red Road, Their Finest, Wilbur wants to kill himself - and the Oscar nominated An Education, amongst many others. Amongst these, An Education was nominated for 56 Awards in total across various famed awards and in all she managed to NET 25 out of them! That's an impressive HIT ratio when you look at it!

So when we decided to watch One Day which is from Lone Scherfig's stable, starring seasoned Anne Hathaway & Jim Sturgess to drive the lockdown blues away, we knew the rest of the evening will be engrossing. And it was and how! The movie is crafty and a nice theme of July 15 as a red-letter day for 2 decades! And it is a very fine adaptation of famed author David Nicholls without many deviations so the movie is true to the novel. That's kind of nice! The story is weaved around Dexter and Emma who are central to the plot and the goings on keep you engrossed and hooked and pinned to the plot!

The movie opens in the period of late 80s, from the college days of Emma & Dexter (Hathaway & Sturgess) and follows them for 2 decades and keeps you engrossed to one day which is 15th of July every year, year on year between these two characters. It goes through many metamorphoses right from the late 80s youthful, exuberant and rebellious life days to mellowed, matured and heading towards middle age days, It meanders through racy, charming days of youth and moves on to observant and relaxed days of maturity with consummate ease, deftly holding you to thrall without your knowledge! Anne manages to steal the show and be ahead of race the when compared to Sturgess in emoting and breathing life to her character with composure while Sturgess pulls off his Hugh Grantish role with ease too! Will they both finally unite together after nearly 2 decades and after their other relationships that keep going on - on the side is what the climax heads to. Saying anything more will be spoiler so lets avoid it. But do see it, the movie keeps you on the hook while Anne takes the line and sinker!!!

The story is good. The book is wonderful. Anna Hathaway is wonderful. But Dexter in the book is so handsome I do not even think this actor is attractive. In the tv serrie, Dexter is real Dexter, in the book Dexter is really attractive in this movie Dexter is not handsome at all for me.... and it is obvious it is in the USA not in the UK. Thos movie would be mocuh much better, but many choices are wrong except Anna Hathaway.. And the scenes with Dexter's mother and father could be more touchable.. It ruins a bit the story but the tv serrie I guess it is the best version of One Day.. If you read the book, you'll understan what I am talking about..

Disclaimer first up- biased review, as I am a sucker for love stories.

I used to think that Hollywood had stopped making emotionally involving love stories. Thank god they made One Day, then. Based on the best selling book by British author Dave Nicholls, the movie explores the intertwined lives of two protagonists of contrasting nature, yet fated to be together. The premise is novel, with the relationship explored though a peek into 15th July of each year, spread over 22 years.

Good stories are brought to life by good acting, and here we have two superb exponents in lead roles- Jim Sturgess as Dexter and Anna Hathaway as Emma. Dexter leads the high profile life, a television anchor with success in all forms chasing him, always. But then his life is also hollow, his friends shallow, and in the end, a faces disillusionment and compromise. Emma dwells in obscurity mostly, but through sheer tenacity and belief achieves a modicum of success as a writer. They meet when they are 18, decide to remain lifelong friends, and they do remain so. In the meanwhile meandering through the vagaries of life, they are inexorably drawn towards each other, dependent on each other.

Childhood sweethearts, even if long lost, when they do come together, they do get together without any questions asked- i say this having witnessed the same on a close friend of mine. And you cant help but fall in love with Emma and Dexter- their love story is so compelling and adorable, that you become a part of their story, you care for them, you laugh with them, and also cry, you want them to do what you would do, and yes, you desperately want a happy ending for them.

And of course there is Anna Hathaway-suitably rumpled and grunge in the first half, and elegance and grace personified in the second, when she flashes her pearly whites, the world seems to be a better place to live.

Why do people in love get to be in love in the best of locations? One Day happens in picturesque Edinburgh, colourful London, and stylish Paris. And the best thing that makes it stand out among all love stories is that it is not predictable, till the very end.

People and things change with time, but memories remain the same.- here's a movie that raises a toast to happy memories, a Must watch for mushy folks!