It Had to Be You

Interesting characters. Great acting. Great story. Real people in real situations. And a liberal dose of disappointment, misunderstanding, and love. What more could you want? Probably advisable to have a box of Kleenex handy.

I've just finished this film, and with tears running down my cheeks from the feel good-ness of it all, I'll attempt to type out this review...if you're a hopeless romantic, or idealist, this movie's for you. As I am one, if not both of those, I see the takeaway (that many of the reviewers here seem to be missing the point of) being that you can't spend all of your time and efforts romanticizing or idealizing a perfect life or even the 'perfect' you, because you miss out on the real one when you do. Plus, as in the case of the movie, when you do romanticize your life or who you could be, you might miss out on something beautiful that's a part of your life already. It's lovingly quirky, the cinematography is wonderful, the soundtrack is lovely, the story is detailed, the characters are not one-dimensional, there's a naturalness between the characters and overall humanness that you can just feel throughout the film. And overall it's just a really sweet movie about a girl who's trying to figure out her life and her relationship. Give it a shot, you might really like it like I did :)

Stars Cristin Millioti and Dan Soder. When sonia (almost) gets an unexpected marriage proposal, she gathers her friends to talk about it. Is she ready to be married? Some of her friends already are. Clearly, chris the boyfriend is ready. But we the viewers don't know anything about them yet, so we're not really invested. A lot of time spent on music, since the director seems to come from a music background. Autobiographical? Sonia seems to want more out of life, but she's not quite sure what that is. Chris is satisfied with his job and with their life, but after listening to his friends, he pushes sonia to make up her mind. Things move pretty slowly. But... one of the great things in this film is that sonia's not afraid to talk about the little embarrassing things in everyday life. Ups and downs. It's okay. Showing on roku channel. Directed by Sasha Gordon, directing her first full length film. Has won a bunch of film fest awards.

As a reviewer, I try to see as many films as I can and then I try to review them all.

Many of these are supposed rom-coms, or attempts at rom-coms, and although I have seen a large number in recent years, I cannot readily remember one as fluid or as entertaining or as well-written as this one.

Props to Director/Writer Sasha Gordon for putting together a project that, in its own way, competes with classics like Bridgit Jones.

And props to actress Cristin Milioti for finally bringing to American audiences the cross-Atlantic equivalent of a full-blown "Sally Hawkins" character. (Take a look at the wonderful Happy Go Lucky 2008 to see the similarities in the performances, camera angles, reaction shots, setups, and so on.)

Refreshing, breezy, thoughtful, and highly recommended.

Wonderfully current and edgy romantic comedy starring the wonderful Cristin Milioti, Kyle Mooney and Hutchi Hancock.

Sonia is a neurotic jingle writer who's always dreamt of a big and exciting life. Surprised by a sudden proposal and subsequent ultimatum from her easy-going boyfriend, Chris, Sonia has to decide whether she'll join the ranks of her married friends or take a leap and pursue her fantasies. A whimsical romantic comedy that's raunchy and yet gentle, 'It Had To Be You' explores the choices women face today while satirizing cultural expectations of gender and romance.

Hoping this one finds the audience it deserves.