The Dictator
Larry Charles, 2012
Score: C+
One Day
You are hereby advised to ignore the bad reviews and check out this fairly stunning meditation on life, love, and friendship. Far from the Nicholas Sparks-style weepie some describe, One Day is, rather, an ambitious whirlwind tour through twenty-five years of a person’s life, with all of its ups and downs, prides, shames, joys, tragedies and regrets conveyed glancingly or just inferred as the film relentlessly motors forward in time. Sometimes this approach involves some clunky expository dialogue, but more often than not it allows for piercing, heartbreaking moments of truth: the scene where Dexter (Jim Sturgess) tells his best friend Emma (Anne Hathaway) that he’s getting married and, after a beat, she offers a lame joke that goes over like a lead balloon; the part where Dexter’s mom turns off Dexter’s TV show in disgust, and to his horror. Dozens of these little nuggets pool and collect into something greater than the sum of its parts. Beautifully shot and acted, One Day is one of my favorites of the summer; it’s also far superior to director Lone Scherfig’s schematic, unconvincing An Education.
-- Eugene Novikov
| Released: | 2011 |
|---|---|
| Genres: | Romance, Drama |
| Starring: | Jodie Whittaker, Rafe Spall, Jim Sturgess, Anne Hathaway, Patricia Clarkson |
| Directed by: | Lone Scherfig |
| Screenwriters: | David Nicholls |
| Rated: | PG-13 |
Great Review! Sturgess and Hathaway are fun to watch together, but the rest of the film just feels like a gimmick that was done wrong, and brings nothing new at all to the conventions of the romantic drama.
I agree – this film is massively under rated and I loved it. I wish people would stop comparing it to When Harry Met Sally – not every single romance owes a debt to this outdated, over rated and unfunny film. One Day is refreshing, witty, touching, thought-provoking, poignant and is some ways life affirming.
Ignore the bad reviews, ignore the idiots complaining about Hathaways accent (unfounded. It’s not perfect, but it’s not a distraction either) and enjoy.