Ryan Reynolds, Elizabeth Banks, Rachel
Weisz, Isla Fisher, Abigail Breslin, Derek
Luke, Kevin Kline
Director
Adam Brooks
Premise
A little girl finds out about her mother's past,
though the viewer is left with 3 choices of
who the mother is through ex-girlfriends of
the father.
charm. First off, it is elegantly written - everything the film mentions about relationships is right
on the nose: the mentions about timing, true love, children, and marriage are insightful, and it is
fairly unpredictable in its ending. The film is shot on many occasions with creative use of
split-screen action and leaps in chronology. The time and place are captured expertly - the
soundtrack mostly correlates with the years of 1992 & 1993 when taking place there and the
theme is politics, the nature of people turning out not like you want them (Clinton) coinciding with
how relationships turn out. Nothing is perfect, especially dating! I was extremely surprised by how
good this movie was, except for the acting. Some characters are not very well drawn out and with
only a couple of exceptions - Kevin Kline and Rachael Weitz doing their usual awe-inspiring work
- nothing is beyond average, and it keeps the film from being "great". Still, the beautiful dialog
more than makes up for it, the soundtrack is one of the best I've ever heard in a mainstream film
(Morphine, Nirvana, Massive Attack, Sly Stone, Bark Psychosis....what the hell???) and the
movie comes off with enough daringness to make it one of the best romantic comedies.
Plot/Originality - 76
Acting/Characters - 69
Dialouge/Screenplay - 90
Effects/Camerawork - 85