mixture of romcom and scifi does not work

Rating: 2/10 (25 February 2014)

High concept scifi meets romdrama/com - result turgid predictable movie, only saved by wanting to see what happens at the end. The acting is pretty ordinary - how does Matt Damon get all these parts when he is so mediocre?! The direction is also incredibly ordinary - no tricksy stuff or originality. The plot put simply is that Planet Earth has always had its' Gods and subsidiary helpers, called different things at different times, eh angels. And when they intervene, it is against a detailed plan for each person contained in a moving book. these 'Gods' stepped back in history, and hence The Dark Ages and two World Wars. Obviously Matt Damon is meant to be another JFK, but he will settle for less if he hooks up with Emily Blunt! Stumbling across the angels doing some 'adjustment' he learns all about this. The film then watches him struggle with his written fate and what he really wants in life. Unfortunately the audience has to suffer so much mumbo-jumbo scifi explanation that the film practically dies on its feet with a leaden script. So cue chases, romantic ups and downs, and an ending, where the so-called chief God (Zeus?) chooses a new path for the star-crossed lovers. Bu which time we have all given up - mediocre c**p!