I Wanted to Love it, but...

Rating: 5/10 (29 December 2019)

With all the critics raving & such a stellar cast, I thought "how could it go wrong?" But go wrong, it did. I gave up after an hour, most of which, saw Nicole in tears. The pacing is off - odd & disjointed. This film doesn't seem to know whether it wants to be a comedy or drama, so there are scenes of one or the other, slipping ungracefully into the next. The parents are borderline abusive towards their son, who is used here as a prop whom they can haggle over. The farcical scene leading towards Charles being served was cringe-inducing and overly long (since when does an old lady leap into the arms of her daughter's husband? Yes, I know wine was involved but everyone in the room acted like it was Tuesday). If Nicole stopped mid-way through explaining her story to her attorney to exclaim about how yummy the refreshments were one more time, I was going to throw something at the screen. Stop it, just stop it. Only crazy people act like that. Nicole is bratty, whiny and a couple sandwiches short of a picnic. Charlie is hang dog, wooden, stoic and largely unpleasant. I don't want to spend 5 minutes with these people let alone 2 hours! The only thing I can think of that would explain why film critics are raving is the cast of luminaries & the self-referential Hollywood/TV production sub plot. Critics eat that stuff up (see La La Land & Once Upon a Time...).
Depressing, charmless, visually uninteresting. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go watch Joker to life my spirits...