A wonderfully well-crafted film that spans a lifetime for its two main protagonists (the tagline isn't ''twenty years, two people'' for nothing; although, technically it is eighteen years. And, in reality, a few extra years are thrown in as the movie was released in 2011, the main story takes place between 1988 and 2006 but does reach 2011, too... Just saying...) - this ''One Day'' has been grossly undervalued by both film critics and moviegoers alike.
Anne Hathaway is splendid, as usual - her role here is central, as it should be, and the English accent she uses here is so close to genuine *this* is the role she should have won an Oscar for - not Les Misérables avec faux accent Français! (Even though a French accent is easier to fake than an English one - right, Anne? Which is doubly ironic here when you know that the original ''Anne Hathaway'' was actually Shakespeare's wife!) Granted, many were the critics that actually said that her Yorkshire accent in this one was inconsistent at best; but those are just technicalities, I say!
Her co-star is a genuine Brit: Jim Sturgess. He becomes increasingly credible in his role as the movie progresses: but that is due, alas, to the fact that he is a most unlikable character throughout three-quarters of this. Not his fault: it's the way he was written! David Nicholls adapted his own novel that spanned decades in the lives of its two central characters, two characters who love each other but aren't sure they do, most of that time... They do wind up married at one point - but there is no happy ending here. Enough said about that. Nicholls digs out many cultural hallmarks in the movie that he could barely use to full effect in the novel: one character handles a copy of the Watchmen trade paperback, specific songs play throughout the film, pinpointing to greater effect each new era evoked. The one thing perhaps deplorable in all this: the character's names seem to be evoking TV icons of two very different eras: two that don't belong together at all! Hathaway's Emma (Peel - of the Avengers: hey, she was Catwoman too, afterwards, so why not tackle that part as well, indeed?) and Sturgess' Dexter (he might have been less obnoxious here if he had been a serial killer too!) - they might be Nicholls' favorite TV memories, distant and recent, but why bring them together in this totally different setting? But I know, David: as an author, sometimes the most difficult thing is not ''finding the suitable ending'' but quite simply christening your main characters appropriately...! I sympathize!
Of note is the cameo here by one Matt Berry (The Third!) of either I.T. Crowd fame or London Dungeon renown - your pick! Matt is always amusing everywhere he appears and, here, as the bearer of bad news for Jim's character (again, I prefer Jim to Dexter) he transforms what would have been an uneventful scene into something much more than that... Great job, Matt; true to form.
One Day met with stiff reviews and so-so performances in box-offices worldwide: it was not a complete flop, but it was far from being the success it could, perhaps should have been. It is a touching tale of unrequited or, more precisely, uneven love: basically, she loves more than he does. Time passes. He realizes his (many) errors: and there is still time for them, however...
Watch it and make abstraction of all the annoyances (fake accents, odd choices for time capsules, obnoxious male lead) - and you will appreciate this overall effort, essentially due to the original tale, which comes from the novel's main plot. Schefig is a great director, too. Her director of photography here, Delhomme, made both London and Paris look better than they have looked, lately... And the music by Rachel Portman eclipses anything Hans Zimmer has ever done or will ever do - no, really!
Anne Hathaway is splendid, as usual - her role here is central, as it should be, and the English accent she uses here is so close to genuine *this* is the role she should have won an Oscar for - not Les Misérables avec faux accent Français! (Even though a French accent is easier to fake than an English one - right, Anne? Which is doubly ironic here when you know that the original ''Anne Hathaway'' was actually Shakespeare's wife!) Granted, many were the critics that actually said that her Yorkshire accent in this one was inconsistent at best; but those are just technicalities, I say!
Her co-star is a genuine Brit: Jim Sturgess. He becomes increasingly credible in his role as the movie progresses: but that is due, alas, to the fact that he is a most unlikable character throughout three-quarters of this. Not his fault: it's the way he was written! David Nicholls adapted his own novel that spanned decades in the lives of its two central characters, two characters who love each other but aren't sure they do, most of that time... They do wind up married at one point - but there is no happy ending here. Enough said about that. Nicholls digs out many cultural hallmarks in the movie that he could barely use to full effect in the novel: one character handles a copy of the Watchmen trade paperback, specific songs play throughout the film, pinpointing to greater effect each new era evoked. The one thing perhaps deplorable in all this: the character's names seem to be evoking TV icons of two very different eras: two that don't belong together at all! Hathaway's Emma (Peel - of the Avengers: hey, she was Catwoman too, afterwards, so why not tackle that part as well, indeed?) and Sturgess' Dexter (he might have been less obnoxious here if he had been a serial killer too!) - they might be Nicholls' favorite TV memories, distant and recent, but why bring them together in this totally different setting? But I know, David: as an author, sometimes the most difficult thing is not ''finding the suitable ending'' but quite simply christening your main characters appropriately...! I sympathize!
Of note is the cameo here by one Matt Berry (The Third!) of either I.T. Crowd fame or London Dungeon renown - your pick! Matt is always amusing everywhere he appears and, here, as the bearer of bad news for Jim's character (again, I prefer Jim to Dexter) he transforms what would have been an uneventful scene into something much more than that... Great job, Matt; true to form.
One Day met with stiff reviews and so-so performances in box-offices worldwide: it was not a complete flop, but it was far from being the success it could, perhaps should have been. It is a touching tale of unrequited or, more precisely, uneven love: basically, she loves more than he does. Time passes. He realizes his (many) errors: and there is still time for them, however...
Watch it and make abstraction of all the annoyances (fake accents, odd choices for time capsules, obnoxious male lead) - and you will appreciate this overall effort, essentially due to the original tale, which comes from the novel's main plot. Schefig is a great director, too. Her director of photography here, Delhomme, made both London and Paris look better than they have looked, lately... And the music by Rachel Portman eclipses anything Hans Zimmer has ever done or will ever do - no, really!
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