Dougie B

RomComs are unbelievable by their very nature, and I won't knock this movie the for its plot or dialogue alone. What really takes me out of this movie are the faces of the two main actors, and this is something I've never experienced before while watching a movie.

Zac Effron's plastic surgery is so obvious that I'd have been distracted by it even had I not known what he looked like prior. Nicole Kidman's face was so frozen that in no way could she express any emotion, let alone sell the extremely quick romance that her and Effron's character develop. While watching their initial scene together, I seriously had to wonder if plastic surgery is what they both saw as having in common and lead to their attraction.

I actually felt bad for Joey King. She's a decent actress, but being the only one of the three main cast members who could actually show emotions with her face, she more or less had to carry the movie on her own.

The acting is great, as is the music, cinematography and overall feel, but the shallow story really brings it down a number of points.

At no point in the movie do we really get a sense of exactly why the characters are romantically connected or than a lustful connection. Which would be fine, however later on the characters react to their situation as if there has been some deep connection which we never really got a close look at.

The casting of Anne Hathaway was also kind of a double-edged sword, needing to be an actress that could convince the audience a 24 year old singer would be attractive enough to pursue. But because she in no way looks 40, it becomes tough to suspend disbelief on certain plot elements that address her age.

This is the kind of movie that had it been made 20 years ago it would have been seen late night on the Syfy channel or plucked from lower shelves of Blockbuster. And that's okay.

It's not going to have a lasting impact on anyone, you'll probably never need to see it again after watching it once, but it's similar to watching an 90's episode of The Outer Limits. It's decently entertaining for the duration you watch.

Sarah Mitich has some pretty decent acting chops which were nice to see, given how underutilized she's been on Star Trek: Discovery.

The title of the movie is a bit of an odd choice given how its 8th or 9th feature in the last 20 year called "Control," it feels like they were trying capitalize off the popular video game, which it has nothing to do with.