Mixed reviews

Rating: 8/10 (3 July 2019)

I've read the reviews, this film is getting a love-it or hate-it reaction. First, I think a lot of the bad press comes from people judging it out of its genre. It is a romantic comedy, so those who gave it 1s and 2s (out of 10) because it was "just a love story with music", need to adjust their expectations, appropriately. Secondly, this is under-spoken, self-deprecating British humour (that I adore) but this is often baffling to American audiences (who are use to being fed broad comedy, charicatures of life - see note on Kate McKinnon, below) and this fuelled another flurry of low ratings. So, you can see where my review is going. I loved this movie. The love story was inevitable (it WAS the point of the movie). The premise was unique (and it provided a great reoccurring joke). The theme of Friendship Zone vs Romantic Interest was executed perfectly by the deep, emotional vocabulary of the performers (although, the 14-seconds-that-changed-the- world is as much of a leap as Lily James, made average with fuzzy hair, being left in the friendship zone, in any time line). Himesh Patel made a smooth transition from the Soaps to the Big Screen and his musical skills were perfect for this. Lily James brought such vulnerability, energy and strength {spoiler} dealing with unrequited love {/spoiler}. As much as I appreciate the comedic talents of Kate McKinnon, I wish she would find the real people behind her charicatures. She needs to find her dramatic chops which, I believe, are there to be discovered. But the glue for this film was the music. As with BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY, I was transported to my youth when so much of this music was imbedded, word for word, note for note. {spoiler} I fully expected the ending to flip back to Jack waking in his hospital bed, having lived a dream, and now seeing Ellie with different eyes and not missing his moments, cue same ending from there on. {/spoiler} I give this film an 8 (great) out of 10. My friend gives it a 9 (just short of perfect). {RomCom around great Music}