Credited cast: | |||
Jeremy Piven | ... | David | |
Olivia-Mai Barrett | ... | Jules | |
Joely Richardson | ... | Sarah | |
Hadar Cats | ... | Emma | |
Roger Ashton-Griffiths | ... | Mr. Thompson | |
Nathalie Cox | ... | Laura | |
Rest of cast listed alphabetically: | |||
Nell Baker | ... | Chorister | |
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Louise Bangay | ... | Aunt Tammy |
Megan Brown | ... | Claire | |
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Felix Butterwick | ... | Ben |
Genevieve Capovilla | ... | Amanda | |
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Sophie Corcoran | ... | Natasha |
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Janine Craig | ... | Caroline |
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Grant Crookes | ... | Cathedral Concert Guest |
Wade Crouch | ... | Tom |
In many ways, David and Jules Evans relationship is no different from that of most fathers and sixteen-year-old daughters. He struggles to understand her, she refuses to communicate with him. He wants to be involved in her life, she wants her own space. In one important aspect, however, David and Jules are separated from the rest of society: the death of Jules' mum, and David's wife, in a car crash two years previous. With both struggling to cope with the rigors of daily life in the wake of this devastating loss, Jules decides to take matters into her own hands. Creating profiles for David on multiple online dating platforms, Jules sets out to find her dad a partner and, for herself, someone with whom she can talk. The question is, in the search for a new mum, will Jules find her old dad?
Definitely not a romcom, which the title does hint at. It was okay, Jeremy Piven is great, but feels a bit out of place. Oliva-Mai wasn't bad, but I felt her character was very badly written.
The actual plot is just too farfetched, it could happen if the girl was a lot younger, but as she's 16, the immersion isn't there, which prevents the really emotional moments from having the same impact.
The movie seems confused at what it is, is it a Christmas Romcom as the title and main plot suggests, a coming of age story as the subplot (with a very odd conclusion) suggests, or is it a drama about a family tragedy?
Because of this, neither the comedy or the drama quite hit home, and it's too bad, as there's definitely potential.