This movie is kind of like Moulin Rouge - very silly, no structure, things just kind of happen. And, yes, it was very formulaic. Nerdy guy tries to learn how to be outgoing. We saw it in "Hitch" and "Crazy, Stupid, Love." So, there was nothing really original about it. So why did I like it?
I guess because, ultimately, this is a movie that reminds us how important it is to have friends. It shows us a bunch of somewhat likeable, idiosyncratic characters who all find ways to relate to each other. This kind of movie gives me hope. I don't mean, it inspires me to go out womanizing. It inspires to go and meet people and maybe at least some of those people will be worth talking to, just for the sake of talking to them, because in the end that's what life is about: communicating with people.
Apparently this movie had a lot of cast in common with the series "Dollhouse." Well, I assure you I have never seen that series, so I can say without any bias that I enjoyed watching these actors. Maybe their prior experience with each other aided them in having such good on-screen chemistry, but prior experience in something is not a crime.
Like I said, the story did not have much structure. Lots of little conflicts never really got resolved, it felt as if the characters just forgot the conflicts happened. That sort of glossing-over is lazy storytelling. But, in a movie that's just supposed to be a good time, I suppose I can forgive it. At times I found Astor just astonishingly stupid, as if he had never had a real conversation with another human being in his life. I think he learned his lesson by the end of the movie, but his slowness to catch on struck me as implausible.
No, this is not a great movie. But it's fun and I think it achieves what it wants to achieve, without a large budget or a world war as a historical backdrop. It reminded me, most of all, of the book "How to Build a Girl" by Caitlin Moran (made into a movie recently, but I have not seen it). That was another experiment in extroversion, where a total novice tries to learn how to get along in society. The process is painful and awkward, even cringe-worthy, but it can work out because the world is not all bad. Maybe I have trouble believing that sometimes. Movies like these give me a bit of reassurance.
I guess because, ultimately, this is a movie that reminds us how important it is to have friends. It shows us a bunch of somewhat likeable, idiosyncratic characters who all find ways to relate to each other. This kind of movie gives me hope. I don't mean, it inspires me to go out womanizing. It inspires to go and meet people and maybe at least some of those people will be worth talking to, just for the sake of talking to them, because in the end that's what life is about: communicating with people.
Apparently this movie had a lot of cast in common with the series "Dollhouse." Well, I assure you I have never seen that series, so I can say without any bias that I enjoyed watching these actors. Maybe their prior experience with each other aided them in having such good on-screen chemistry, but prior experience in something is not a crime.
Like I said, the story did not have much structure. Lots of little conflicts never really got resolved, it felt as if the characters just forgot the conflicts happened. That sort of glossing-over is lazy storytelling. But, in a movie that's just supposed to be a good time, I suppose I can forgive it. At times I found Astor just astonishingly stupid, as if he had never had a real conversation with another human being in his life. I think he learned his lesson by the end of the movie, but his slowness to catch on struck me as implausible.
No, this is not a great movie. But it's fun and I think it achieves what it wants to achieve, without a large budget or a world war as a historical backdrop. It reminded me, most of all, of the book "How to Build a Girl" by Caitlin Moran (made into a movie recently, but I have not seen it). That was another experiment in extroversion, where a total novice tries to learn how to get along in society. The process is painful and awkward, even cringe-worthy, but it can work out because the world is not all bad. Maybe I have trouble believing that sometimes. Movies like these give me a bit of reassurance.