Não é Mais um Final Feliz

I really can't understand cynics. Whilst this one will never be as revered as the Bill Forsyth classic "Gregory's Girl", it more than deserve's it's own place in Scottish cinema's finer moments. Beautiful cinematography shot in and around Glasgow in a way that's almost unrecognisable, with lead characters who command every scene they're in (The delicious Karen Gillan a real star in waiting) I can't understand why anyone could find anything negative to report on this movie, unless of course they turned up with something sharp stuck firmly between their rear cheeks. Of course when you're working with a small budget, you're restricted to a degree in a way that the Hollywood romcoms of the like they churn out regular, featuring this weeks Aniston or Rudd don't have to put up with. So to produce superior, fresh, well written entertainment (albeit, not too taxing on the brain) with the tools available, I can only commend. Anyone who sees it and says different, really should question why they went in the first place.

Jane Lockhart (Karen Gillan) is not a happy person. She hates her publisher Frenchman Tom Duval for changing the title of her book to Happy Ending. The book becomes a best seller. She reconnects with her estranged father Benny. Her boyfriend Willie Scott is writing the screenplay. Everything seems to be perfect but she can't finish her second book. She's stuck on Chapter 37. Her fictional protagonist Darsie starts hounding her. Tom fears her writer's block threatens his company. With his assistant Roddy, Tom tries to make her unhappy like before so she would finish her book. Her happiness is only on the surface and Tom finds himself falling for her.

I want Karen Gillan to get better material than this. This is not that funny. Any smile-worthy moments come from Karen being Karen. She's not really a comedian. She has some physical comedic skills but it's not enough. There are very few relationships with chemistry in this movie. The best one is probably the father daughter struggles. Gary Lewis is the only one doing any worthwhile acting. Stanley Weber is rather stiff and he doesn't have enough time with Gillan. They need more screen time together to develop that chemistry. On the other side, Henry Ian Cusick is playing a superficial villain. This is not good enough.

I could simply dismiss this movie as a formulaic rom-com that is neither particularly romantic nor comic, but that wouldn't really get into the problem with this movie. The problem is it feels phony from beginning to end. Everything about it is wrong. The main character dresses quirky, but there's no sense that this is who she is, or that she has a purpose in her choice of clothes. Instead, you feel someone on the movie just decided to dress her that way. The love interests actions are at best I-Love-Lucy-level nonsense at worst borderline sociopathic. It's also an absurdly stupid premise, and the movie knows it's a stupid premise and makes that clear, yet goes with it anyway.

Every turn in the plot feels like it's there not because it is a natural outcome of what came before but simply because the writer wanted to create a situation.

The performances are good. The movie looks good. And the movie effectively hits the basic rom-com pressure points. But its soulless and stupid, and unerringly goes for the trite moments and the fake emotions.

I did like the main characters alter-ego. She was a good actress and was actually more convincing than the supposed real people in the film. But overall this was not just dull, but downright objectionable.

Rom Com a bit of a maligned term in the world of films, but I think it is a question of degree. Would I like a full on romantic film? No. Would I like a full on comedy? No. So a combination of these two is likely to be a disaster for me, unless it is done as well Not Another Happy Ending.

The film is well acted and all characters are well drawn, memorable and actors put their hearts into the performance. The camera work and editing do a great job to establishing the world the characters inhabit but allow the characters time to develop instead quickly moving on to next scene. The direction is interesting when it needs to be, but the actors are the main focus on the film, so that is just as well fancy camera work is not used when they are delivering their performances.

The story is enjoyable and probably more realistic than you might think, if you think that would never happen or character would not be like that, for the purpose of entertainment let it go, its not a gritty life study.

Karen Gillan really has proved her her leading lady status here, and although the star of the film the supporting cast are also fantastic you can tell there must have been temptation to expand their roles further, perhaps should be focus of further stories.

Criticism of the film I would say is mostly the predictability of the plot,even with my little knowledge of the Rom Com,you know what is going to happen , but, these films are not watched for plot twists , unpredictable events. Budget is not a noticeable issue but it has a feel of an extended pilot for a TV series which never got made (and of course should have been made)and those who helped crowdsource fund the film should be proud of what the helped create.

A final recommendation is the music, it's great and mostly not well known. The most mainstream track saved for the high emotional point, almost goes too far , but I can forgive that or release the soundtrack I can always skip that track, while loving the rest.

Passes the Bechdel Test

Everyone has to admit that its originality makes this one of the best movies of all time. It will always be one of my favorites. Silly but fun, it is the story of what happens when a struggling publisher discovers his only successful author is blocked he knows he has to unblock her or he's finished. From an artistic standpoint, there were some plot elements and character developments I didn't think were totally needed. They do however drive the story, which seemed to be their purpose, so I can accept them. God bless this film. The acting is very effective. This is the kind of film that proves that a small story can be much more meaningful than a larger one.