Proof That Ratings Are Meaningless

Rating: 1/10 (2 September 2013)

You instantly know that you are in trouble when the lead characters bond during discussion of psychotropic meds that they've been taking for their various mental disturbances. This is a new low in cute-meet, rom-coms. Since the main characters don't supply enough psychosis, there is the father with OCD for good measure. Maybe other people find mentally disturbed, erratic and violent characters a cute, but I don't.
It is hard to pinpoint whether Bradley Cooper's dreadful acting excesses were due to his lack of talent or, heaven-forbid, were exactly what the director wanted. In either case, I wanted to reach through the screen, grab him by the neck and tell him to shut up. As if this wasn't annoying enough, there was Robert De Niro's as his father to add two more forms of mental disturbance. He is an Eagle's fan and has OCD. Which is the worse mental illness is debatable, but enough is enough. There is hardly a quiet sane moment in the film. De Niro, by far the most overrated actor of the last 40 years, is his usual grumbling self. Since he said "This is this" in the Deer Hunter in 1978, he has been said every single line exactly the same. Jennifer Lawrence was the least annoying character, but she had her moments.
You can't help wonder why such a movie as bad as this gets such positive reviews. There is a apparently a large, devoted audience for maudlin, feel-good romances involving annoying people. As long as the couple ends up together, that seems to be all that matters. Steal a subplot from "Shall We Dance" for good measure and, voilà la, we have a winner.
There must be a strong self selection process in who goes to see such movies. The people who chose to see them are the kind of people to whom such sentimental trash appeals, so they are naturally likely to give it a good review. I saw it on an airplane for free because there nothing else but "blow em up" action and scifi movies and kid's stuff. Next time, I'll take a good book.