The Romantics

Having read the book, everything about this movie was wrong, in my opinion. The characters in the book read as self-indulgent, out-of-touch post-Ivy Leaguers, but at least you have the benefit of being able to read some of their back stories. You know NOTHING about any of them in the movie - the viewer is given no reason to even try to care.

I said to the person with whom I watched this, the most interesting thing about this movie is the music. And the music wasn't even that interesting, nor was it present as much as it could have been. I felt the movie was wholly miscast. Anna Paquin, while blond, was nothing like how I envisioned Lila while reading the book if only because she was about a foot too short. They took the one interesting feature of Laura's away (she's Jewish) and removed the part that really set her apart from her WASPy Yale buddies. Elijah Wood, while talented, was not creepy enough to play Chip, the bride's brother and Candice Bergen was not severe enough to be Augusta. I was also disappointed that they diminished her part - she kept everyone on their toes.

I highly recommend skipping it all together. I wish I had that hour and a half of my life back.

Since Galt Niederhoffer wrote the book and screenplay and directed this movie, she has nobody to blame for its terrible awfulness but herself. The screenplay has lots of boring gaps in which this supposedly bright, witty group wanders around without saying much at all. Although they are all supposed to be college buddies, the obvious ten-year age gap between Anna Paquin and Josh Duhamel makes this proposition laughable.

Katie Holmes acting here is so bad that it makes Josh Duhamel look like DeNiro, which is saying something. The whole movie hinges on the chemistry between the two leads, and there is none whatsoever. Sidekicks Jeremy Strong and Rebecca Lawrence are virtual non-entities. Candice Bergen does the same geriatric reprise of Murphy Brown that she recently did on the TV series "House," with no better results. If Elijah Wood was going for creepy he succeeded, but to no great purpose.

That leaves only the performances of Anna Paquin, Malin Akerman, and Adam Brody to save this stinker. Akerman is the standout of the three, and it's only when she is on screen do you have the sense that something interesting could happen. Unfortunately, she not on screen all that much.

What starts out as a decent romantic comedy quickly devolves into a self-indulgent joke about whiny, privileged white kids who (gasp) don't know what to do with their lives! It wouldn't be so insulting if it didn't masquerade as a film about academia and intelligence, yet feature such astoundingly sophomoric scripting. Any juice that can be squeezed from the "post-college malaise" hokum is soured by cliché and archetype. And its pseudo hipster posing (the music and costumes shout indie cool as loud as they possibly can) don't cover up the fact that this movie has no substance to match its style.

Performances are fine, but not spectacular, apologies owed to the supporting actors who don't have characters to hang a portrayal around. Malin Akerman and Adam Brody stand out because of their jovial personalities and familiarity, but the rest of the cast struggles to stay afloat in a sea of underdevelopment.

The great conflict at the middle of the picture is a love triangle between Katie Holmes, Anna Paquin, and Josh Duhamel, but you care so little about these three people that you'd just as soon see them end up alone. As for realism and stakes, ask yourself this: have you ever thought of Josh Duhamel as a brooding academic?

In summation: a mainstream romantic dram-com dressed up like an indie film that sins thrice: it's boring, clichéd, and insignificant. A shame considering all of the young talent involved.

Was it... love, was it tragedy...was it a bad episode of cheap series...or was it just nothing...Everybody blames the actors, but how can you act with such cliché script, that is leading to nowhere. I am truly sorry for some of these actors, because I honestly like them, but this movie is beyond meaningless. I was waiting the whole time for a little bit of sophistication at least at the end, but well...nothing. If you want to see Ana Paquin with a green mask on her face, Elija Wood acting drunk and some guys running naked...that you can see, but nothing more sensible. What I am sorry for is Candice Bergen, wonderful actress, such unfortunate role.

This movie is more drama than comedy. There really aren't enough comedic moments to put it in the comedy category. I wouldn't call it a romance either. My main issue with it is that nothing was resolved in the end. The rest of the movie was enjoyable enough, but the lack of resolution left me annoyed in the end.