A bit of a disappointment as a final product. Despite the wonderful Kris Marshall, who does a good job as the lead.
The main flaw is the script: it is over-wordy and far too complicated. Frankly, the lines are overly - and unrealistically - clever. No one speaks that wittily, let alone all the time. In real-life people pause mid-sentence, say 'ermmm...' and 'errr...', and offer silent facial expressions as well as speech. But in this film all the lines felt over-structured. And because of this the characters came across as rather artificial.
Many of the phrases just sounded like the scriptwriter/s were in love with their own words. It seemed like the writer/s were allowed to get too close to the finished script. Instead, an editor should have trimmed the fat off nearly all the phrases used in the film. Quite often in a film, a subtle approach - less is more - works far better than dumping in everything that is in the creator's head. A barrage of words is just that.
I think the writers were aiming for a pithy content, but instead it just sounded like an inexperienced and overly keen student writer had got hold of the script.
Plus the delivery of the scriptlines by the actors was too fast. Clearly the cast were asked to speak at speed. However, again, in real life people do not speak that speedily.
It doesn't help that the female character had a very thick French accent, that at times made it difficult to understand her English. (As somewhat of a French speaker, I actually found her occasional French-language phrases far easier to understand than her English sentences!)
Sadly, as a romcom, the film is all a bit déja vu. Both in the story's content and stylisms. This makes the film feel more than somewhat hackneyed . . . And uninspiring.
The movie feels at times very much made in the pattern of Richard Curtis. And as Kris Marshall was in 'Love Actually', back in the early Noughties, that history just adds to the sense of homage to Curtis. However, it lacks the depth of Curtis' stories, as the film is missing a full fledge of the human experience. It is free of any meaningful elements of warmth and pathos, as these get hidden in the midst of overly complex scriptlines. Ditto there is a lack of comedy. And as Marshall is skilled with a funny/comical plot, his abilities could have been better used in this story.
Another stylism influence on the film seems to be Woody Allen, but again the movie over-strains in this respect. Too many words just spoil the sentience of the scenes, and of the actors' interplay. It is difficult to find the 'com' in this romcom when the script is so contrived.
As the protagonists, Kris Marshall does a good job, and Annelise Hesme much the same. But the torrent of words outdo the good acting offered by the two leads. The script out-hams the cast, in a way I have never seen a film do!
Fortunately there are worthy features to the film: the camera work is great, the scenes are placed well, the camera shots are appealing, and the pace of the film is good. So thank goodness for these characteristics. They at least make the film pleasant to watch.
Other winning aspects of the film are welcome. The relationship between the couple is played out well, and the scenes between them can - in parts - be touching. The setting in London is redolent of 'Notting Hill', 'Love Actually', and other London-centric romcoms, so we've seen it all in other films. But at least the scenes are well set. Overall, it is an attractively made film, good on the eye. And it is good to see different locations being shown to the viewer: there's no hilltop bench seat offering, yet again, of Parliament Hill or Primrose Hill, with a leafy panoramic view of the city of London! (And, personally, it was good to see that the open-air bookstall on the South Bank of the River Thames was still there! Memories, memories . . . !)
Another refreshing factor in the film is the plot: for a romcom the film has an original angle. We don't see the mess-up of their relationship: we see just the start of the romance - how they meet - and when they meet up 5 years later. This is a variant viewpoint for a romcom. So kudos to the production/writing team for that distinctive approach.
Overall: yes, the film is fair, but it just doesn't offer anything new. It's a romcom, but we've seen it all before. If only the scriptwriter/s had pulled back on the verbosity, then the clever style of words might have left the finished product as a film nicely phrased. Instead, too much verbiage is the thing that RUINS the film.
And as for the other features, the movie is a mishmash of very little. It offers nothing to the viewer that is really worth sitting through for a couple of hours.
{ P. S. Oh dear, and now I too have rambled on, in much the same vein - too many words! Oops! Sorry about the lengthy review! :-D }
