"You'll probably wind up sitting next to the cast and crew" suggested the marketing blurb on the Edinburgh International Film Festival poster; an unlikely overstatement I thought, until I went to this little gem of a film, and the bloke in the next seat along turned out to be the Directory of Photography. Indeed, a healthy smattering of the cast and crew pitched up for the film's second showing, and fair play to them for taking the trouble.
I'm not really a great one for rom-coms, this was a definite wife-pick and I went in with limited expectations. However, it didn't take long for a fairly rapid re-appraisal. The basic premise - a series of takes on why some relationships don't work out from the perspective of a slightly geeky bloke (apparently, this is grossly unfair as my wife informs me that he's pretty hot stuff) – is not desperately original, but the manner of its execution is both well above the average and decidedly original.
The film is crammed with witty and ingenious ideas – the Barbie doll vignette to summarise the 'girl on a plane' back-story is inspired, as is the Theme Park concept of a different ride for each girlfriend. Nice. The cameos are perfectly-pitched, in particular Michael Sheen and Johnny Ball, and the effervescent Vitamin C tablet fake ending was equally well-judged. The pace is fast and there's little, if any, slack in the tight script – indeed, if I had a minor grumble, it would be that I felt the film would have benefited from a little more time spent on character development of girlfriends 1-4.
Effective as a comedy on a number of levels, it even managed to slot in some painful relationship truisms – the 'cereal box' effect at the start of a relationship, yet another clever idea – that had the audience chuckling in knowing appreciation.
It left me wanting more, and I hope that commercial success beckons, because this film thoroughly merits it. 7/10 (which is admittedly a bit mean, and more down to me not really liking the genre).
I'm not really a great one for rom-coms, this was a definite wife-pick and I went in with limited expectations. However, it didn't take long for a fairly rapid re-appraisal. The basic premise - a series of takes on why some relationships don't work out from the perspective of a slightly geeky bloke (apparently, this is grossly unfair as my wife informs me that he's pretty hot stuff) – is not desperately original, but the manner of its execution is both well above the average and decidedly original.
The film is crammed with witty and ingenious ideas – the Barbie doll vignette to summarise the 'girl on a plane' back-story is inspired, as is the Theme Park concept of a different ride for each girlfriend. Nice. The cameos are perfectly-pitched, in particular Michael Sheen and Johnny Ball, and the effervescent Vitamin C tablet fake ending was equally well-judged. The pace is fast and there's little, if any, slack in the tight script – indeed, if I had a minor grumble, it would be that I felt the film would have benefited from a little more time spent on character development of girlfriends 1-4.
Effective as a comedy on a number of levels, it even managed to slot in some painful relationship truisms – the 'cereal box' effect at the start of a relationship, yet another clever idea – that had the audience chuckling in knowing appreciation.
It left me wanting more, and I hope that commercial success beckons, because this film thoroughly merits it. 7/10 (which is admittedly a bit mean, and more down to me not really liking the genre).