Very funny, but predictable

Rating: 7/10 (24 April 2008)

It's a little tough for me to get a handle on how effective the first 20 minutes of this movie are, because the projectionist was showing it in the wrong ratio, meaning the boom mic was swinging around the screen like a bee that had been let in the room and was intent on following the conversation. A bee on a big metal arm like.
Still, once that got sorted and the distraction was out of the way (idiotically jabbering cinema patrons not-withstanding) I had a pretty good time with this movie. It's completely predictable, and in most respects like just about every other romcom you've ever seen but still manages to hit a consistent laugh rate. A lot of those laughs arise from the japes of Russell Brand though, who is a marmite personality if there ever was one, so if you have an irrational hatred of the man then you may want to steer clear. He does very well though, his character effectively being Russell Brand and appearing to ad lib all over the place, thus avoiding any awkwardness that his transition to the big screen might have resulted in (I haven't seen "St. Trinians" though, so can't vouch for him in that, he might be a roasted turd in it for all I know).
Also deserving mention is Paul Rudd, who is brilliant as always and comes close to stealing the show. And an entertaining show it is, ignore that it's horribly clichéd, forget that it follows the cookie cutter structure of every rom-com on the planet, relax and have a few laughs with it.