Better Than Flakes

Rating: 5/10 (6 January 2010)

I think there are some good things about this movie unfortunately the aspect I was most interested in seeing was the most disappointing part of it. This movie would have been more successful to me if it didn't contain all the "indie" clichés and by clichés, they are seriously clichés. A Date to Ikea? (Hello Pavement song, and just sort of a hipsteresque concept, I guess.. they're Swedish meatballs are great and their furniture is angular and cheap).. nowadays Ikea could have been Target as well. Singing the Pixies at a karaoke bar?  yup! Smiths obsession? Check! All of these things can seem sort of dated to some and not very universal to many others. However, it's so deliberately geared towards hipsters it should have taken place in Portland! The story concept I kind of liked many of us know the frustration of being in love with someone in a "Friends with Benefits" type situation and I had never seen that portrayed so well in a film. Also the sequencing of the movie itself was pretty cool, however I just wish they'd played down the indie cred stuff. It was way too over the top and cliché. The dancing scene, however, is hilarious because it's so cliché and I get that! And very out of place since that's the only scene in the entire movie that has an ounce of camp to it. It's waaaaay better than Flakes, but that's not saying much. I really want to like Zoey Daschnel but it seems to me she always finds herself in movies that play up the whole indie thing to the point cheeseyness, but not cheesy enough to be funny.