Man Up is a British romantic comedy about a man and a woman who meets on a blind date. Simon Pegg plays Jack, a 40 year old divorced man who has planned a blind date with a 24 year old girl. Lake Bell plays the 34 year old Nancy who is taking the train home to her parents wedding anniversary. Nancy accidentally meet Jack's blind date and switch places with her when she discovers that the girl forgot her book, the one thing she needed to bring to the date. Jack is totally unaware of the switch and immediately takes Nancy, the wrong girl, out on the streets of London.
Man Up is definitely among the best romantic comedies I've seen in a long time. With a farce like humor and a perfect timing in editing and story, the film rushes away with the speed of a car chase. Nancy is at first forced to lie to Jack so that he doesn't suspect anything and he also deliberately hides his past to avoid looking foolish. After a while as the film goes on they both discover that they are very alike. Willingly and unwillingly they expose their best and worst sides of themselves for each other. It becomes some sort of race between them, a race impossible to win.
We are thrown out into London's night life with bowling, bars and portable restaurants. In some way the director is able to catch the characters' many sides in a very short time. At the same time every location they visit, plays a big part for the whole picture. They both encounter people from their past, each one affecting their date positively and negatively. Do not miss the very funny London taxi vs bike race between them. It is a very quick and incredibly refreshing romantic comedy after a couple of years with pretty lame and mediocre films in the same genre. I almost thought that the romcom film had died out, but here we actually get proof that it still works. Come on, more films like this.
