Year of Release: 2016
Director: Christian Ditter
Starring: Dakota Johnson, Rebel Wilson, Leslie Mann, Alison Brie, Anders Holm, Nicholas Braun, Jake Lacy, Damon Wayans Jr., Colin Jost, Vanessa Rubio, Sarah Ramos
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 5
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Synopsis and Review
Director Christian Ditter followed his mildly successful "Love, Rosie", with "How to be Single", in what can be considered the typical rom-com format. The film follows the story of Alice, whom we are first introduced as someone who has been in a relationship since she arrived in college and met the affable Josh. Longing to learn more about what's out there, Alice decides to propose they both take a break so she and Josh can see a bit more of the world, and then decide if they do want to stay together or go their separate ways. Alice comes to NY and lives with her sister, a successful MD, who is going through a tough decision in her life, namely figuring out if she wants to have a child on her own or wait. Alice joins a law firm as a paralegal, where she meets the irreverent Robin, who is always partying and enjoying her single life. Robin makes it one of her goals to make sure Alice gets to experience a bit of that as well. Alice has a fling with serial non-committal Tom, a bartender who in the meantime has started to develop feelings for Lucy, someone who is trying to figure out how to date online. Alice decides single life isn't for her and reaches out to Josh, in the hopes they can resume their life. However, Josh has also met someone, and has moved on. Alice finds herself in the position of having to rethink her life and her options, as a single individual as opposed to someone always in a relationship.
"How to be Single" is an interesting feature, in the sense that while not the most original take on the aspirations of a single woman coming to terms of what being single versus being in a relationship means to her, it still holds one's attention courtesy of the very talented and eclectic cast assembled (and one can always revisit Paul Mazursky's "An Unmarried Woman" with Jill Clayburgh in order to witness a far more interesting take on this topic). Alice, the central character to this odyssey, isn't necessarily the most well defined character, but her attempts at figuring her path and options, manage to briefly define someone who is on a journey of self discovery and ultimately becoming an adult. The supporting characters however don't benefit of being quite as well defined, falling into the trappings of either being the outrageous comical sidekick, or the older sensical sister going through some questioning of her own options, or the somewhat idyllic woman who has to come to terms with the brutal aspects of dating. The male characters in this universe, are also somewhat stereotypes, falling either into the bucket of the eternal cynical womanizer, or the bruised and emotionally unavailable single parent, or the immature one. While they provide some fodder for some circumstantial exchanges, they're ultimately not as resonant as they're not fully fledged characters with their own goals and aspirations. For all the script's limitations, the cast does manage to bring something unique to these roles with their performances, particularly Dakota Johnson and Leslie Mann, who share a great complicity, while Rebel Wilson does most of what she can with an underwritten part. The production team is fairly solid, highlighting in particular the cinematography of Christian Rein. While not a terribly memorable film, it's still a watchable endeavor.
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