HOW TO BE SINGLE
DIRECTOR: Christian Ditter
CAST: Dakota Johnson, Rebel Wilson, Leslie Mann, Alison Brie, Damon Wayans jr, Jake Lacy
CLASSIFICATION: 16L
RUNNING TIME: 110 minutes
RATING: 2 stars (out of 5)
Debashine Thangevelo
AS the title suggests, How to be Single is a Valentine’s Day release. Now, don’t go expecting anything akin to The Best of Me, The Notebook or even He’s Just Not That Into You.
What’s astounding is the fact that this movie has been in the making for a while.
It’s based on Liz Tuccillo’s novel of the same title. The rights for the film were purchased the same year that it released, in 2008.
Initially, Drew Barrymore, a producer on this movie, was also meant to direct it. But, over time, Christian Ditter (Love, Rosie) was then brought on board. The script, too, underwent rewrites along the way.
Sadly, all the effort doesn’t pay off.
As far as storylines go, How to be Single doesn’t cover any new ground with its four protagonist – Robin (Wilson), Alice (Johnson), Meg (Mann) and Lucy (Brie) – exploring the dating scene in New York, some of them with serious purpose, while others unintentionally find romance.
Alice’s story is the most prominent in the film. After years of dating Josh, she decides to take time out of their relationship to explore what else is out there and takes up a post at a law firm, where she befriends Robin.
A serious party animal, Robin schools Alice on getting guys – not that she has one. Robin has more of a wham-bam-thank-you-man approach. Whereas Alice, who has a romanticised view on dating, decides to give the no-strings-attached thing a shot with barman Tom.
Now Tom, while cute, is very Barney Stintson-esque (How I Met Your Mother) when it comes to women. However, his commitment-phobic disposition changes with Lucy, who visits his bar for the free wi-fi so that she can check the status on her numerous online dating profiles to find “her peanut”.
Meanwhile, Meg, who is Alice’s older sister, is an obstetrician/gynaecologist who finds herself deciding to have a baby on her own. Think The Back-Up Plan here. And then she meets Alice’s colleague Ken, who is irresistibly charming.
But this movie it titled How to be Single. So while some of the characters learn a few life lessons about love along the way – Alice, after falling for a single father and businessman only for them to eventually break up, learns how to be okay with being by herself.
More so, after Robin, in being her BFF, schools her on her proclivity for always landing in d**ksand. Translated: falling so hard for a guy that you forget about your friends and everything else that matters to you as an individual.
Wilson is cast for her knack for adding comic levity to a dramatic situation. While she does so with aplomb, there are moments when the hilarity is ill-timed.
Mann is a marvel. She helps offset the annoyance that is Alice. And Johnson, while cute, is no Bridget Jones. Brie is an asinine distraction with her OTT pursuit of love.
Only recommended for those that have nothing better to do on Valentine’s Day.
If you liked The Back-Up Plan and What to Expect When You are Expecting, you should enjoy this.