Rated PG-13 for sexual content, partial nudity, language, some violence and substance abuse
Cast: Anne Hathaway, Jim Sturgess, Romola Garai, Rafe Spall, Ken Stott
Director: Lone Scherfig
The key to successful romantic movies, I think, doesn't lie in our ability to accept the main players as a couple, but as individuals. What kept me at arm's length from the central romance in "One Day" between Emma Morley and Dexter Mayhew, the beloved characters from David Nicholl's international best-seller, is that I wasn't drawn into their respective individual plights despite the movie's efforts.
The reason? I have not read Nicholls' novel, but I'd surmise that the central concept--a decades-long-friendship-turned-subsequent-romance that is documented on the same day each year during the union--probably worked masterfully on the page but lost something in the big screen adaptation. Novels have the luxury of time. There's a greater sense of urgency to movies. A story like this requires the novel-esque freedom to meander, take its time and focus on the thought processes and changing attitudes of the friends/lovers. I can see how an idea like this could work as a book. When streamlined into screenplay form, however, the concept plays more like a gimmick. The movie is noticeably disjointed in a way that I imagine the novel was not. The result is an oddly dispassionate film that has some nice moments but lacks a magnetic pull.
British college students Emma (Anne Hathaway) and Dexter (Jim Sturgess) first meet on July 15th, 1988 at their graduation. They almost sleep together, but decide instead to remain friends. Said friendship stands the test of time, somewhat miraculously as these two are the most polar of opposites. Emma is an idealist and a diligent study, and has utilized her college experience to prepare for a life of world-changing efforts. Dexter, by stark contrast, seems to have peaked in college, and spends the next couple decades in a slow, hedonistic downward turn... working as a tv personality and devouring alcohol and women in equal measure.
We catch up with the friends (and inevitable lovers) every year on July 15th. The story follows their life paths, a few joys but more disappointments... from Emma's passionless relationship with a tragically unfunny would-be stand-up comedian (Rafe Spall) to Dexter's continued sybaritic lifestyle that has left his sick mother (Patricia Clarkson) heartbroken and continues to fuel a strained relationship with his father. Years pass, their lives continue to intersect to the point where a transformation from friendship to more becomes inevitable.
There are a few things that blocked my emotional involvement. One was the story's by-the-numbers predictability; even developments late in the film aren't quite as surprising as intended. This further fuels speculation that David Nicholls' book (he also penned the screenplay adaptation) had to have been more detailed and insightful regarding the life directions of the characters. If the novel was no more interesting than what was presented here, I am truly baffled at its widespread acclaim. I also had a problem with the character of Dexter himself. I understand that he's burdened by some pretty heavy familial hardships and that women just love a bad boy, but Dex seems not so much "bad" as perpetually whiny; he is engaged in a twenty-year celebration of self-pity. A decades-long attraction to such a personality on Emma's part seems a rather monumental suspension of disbelief.
Anne Hathaway and Jim Sturgess do their best. I've read many complaints about Hathaway's accent, but things like that don't derail me; my lack of emotional engrossment seldom hinges on such details. Sturgess brings what he can to Dexter, though making him engaging seems a tall order for any actor. The sweeter performances exist on the periphery. Patricia Clarkson brings an ethereal sapience to her role as Dexter's mother, telling him "I love you more than anything, and you could do whatever you wanted to in life... I'm just worried that you're not very nice anymore." Those hard but well-meaning words cut deep. And Rafe Spall gives a memorable turn as Emma's lover who eventually comes to terms with her preference for Dexter over him. "She made you decent," he confesses to Dex late in the film. "And in return you made her so happy. I"m grateful for that." The great achievement in his performance isn't that he makes the character eccentric, but he does so while keeping him so very real.
The director is Lone Scherfig, who helmed the masterful, Oscar-nominated "An Education." The problem here isn't the direction, but the square-peg-in-a-round-hole translation from book to film; not everything makes a smooth transition to the big screen. The movie plays like a pale imitation of something much more meaningful. I didn't hate the film, but that's little consolation for a movie depending on full viewer raptness.
* * out of * * * * stars
The reason? I have not read Nicholls' novel, but I'd surmise that the central concept--a decades-long-friendship-turned-subsequent-romance that is documented on the same day each year during the union--probably worked masterfully on the page but lost something in the big screen adaptation. Novels have the luxury of time. There's a greater sense of urgency to movies. A story like this requires the novel-esque freedom to meander, take its time and focus on the thought processes and changing attitudes of the friends/lovers. I can see how an idea like this could work as a book. When streamlined into screenplay form, however, the concept plays more like a gimmick. The movie is noticeably disjointed in a way that I imagine the novel was not. The result is an oddly dispassionate film that has some nice moments but lacks a magnetic pull.
British college students Emma (Anne Hathaway) and Dexter (Jim Sturgess) first meet on July 15th, 1988 at their graduation. They almost sleep together, but decide instead to remain friends. Said friendship stands the test of time, somewhat miraculously as these two are the most polar of opposites. Emma is an idealist and a diligent study, and has utilized her college experience to prepare for a life of world-changing efforts. Dexter, by stark contrast, seems to have peaked in college, and spends the next couple decades in a slow, hedonistic downward turn... working as a tv personality and devouring alcohol and women in equal measure.
We catch up with the friends (and inevitable lovers) every year on July 15th. The story follows their life paths, a few joys but more disappointments... from Emma's passionless relationship with a tragically unfunny would-be stand-up comedian (Rafe Spall) to Dexter's continued sybaritic lifestyle that has left his sick mother (Patricia Clarkson) heartbroken and continues to fuel a strained relationship with his father. Years pass, their lives continue to intersect to the point where a transformation from friendship to more becomes inevitable.
There are a few things that blocked my emotional involvement. One was the story's by-the-numbers predictability; even developments late in the film aren't quite as surprising as intended. This further fuels speculation that David Nicholls' book (he also penned the screenplay adaptation) had to have been more detailed and insightful regarding the life directions of the characters. If the novel was no more interesting than what was presented here, I am truly baffled at its widespread acclaim. I also had a problem with the character of Dexter himself. I understand that he's burdened by some pretty heavy familial hardships and that women just love a bad boy, but Dex seems not so much "bad" as perpetually whiny; he is engaged in a twenty-year celebration of self-pity. A decades-long attraction to such a personality on Emma's part seems a rather monumental suspension of disbelief.
Anne Hathaway and Jim Sturgess do their best. I've read many complaints about Hathaway's accent, but things like that don't derail me; my lack of emotional engrossment seldom hinges on such details. Sturgess brings what he can to Dexter, though making him engaging seems a tall order for any actor. The sweeter performances exist on the periphery. Patricia Clarkson brings an ethereal sapience to her role as Dexter's mother, telling him "I love you more than anything, and you could do whatever you wanted to in life... I'm just worried that you're not very nice anymore." Those hard but well-meaning words cut deep. And Rafe Spall gives a memorable turn as Emma's lover who eventually comes to terms with her preference for Dexter over him. "She made you decent," he confesses to Dex late in the film. "And in return you made her so happy. I"m grateful for that." The great achievement in his performance isn't that he makes the character eccentric, but he does so while keeping him so very real.
The director is Lone Scherfig, who helmed the masterful, Oscar-nominated "An Education." The problem here isn't the direction, but the square-peg-in-a-round-hole translation from book to film; not everything makes a smooth transition to the big screen. The movie plays like a pale imitation of something much more meaningful. I didn't hate the film, but that's little consolation for a movie depending on full viewer raptness.
* * out of * * * * stars
