September 4, 2011
This afternoon, I was wondering whether I had (as a friend recently suggested) an over-cautious attitude to cycling, along with a slightly nerdy awareness of the Highway Code. Watching all the trendy Oxfordians about town on their Begs and Bianchis, unhelmeted hair billowing in the wind, I suddenly felt terribly uncool sporting my trouser clips and high visibility jacket. However, after seeing ‘One Day’ at the Phoenix, my fears were resolutely buried. I won’t tell you why, but you’ll find out when you go to see it. If, indeed, you do go.
It seems that the World and his dog have read the novel of the same name by David Nicholls: a friend I texted earlier today happened to be reading it on holiday in Crete; someone I met at the cinema (incidentally, isn’t the Phoenix utterly wonderful for making new friends) had also read it. If it’s not already on Richard and Judy’s list, it will be. However, it might take a healthy dose of X chromosomes to love the movie adaptation (and even mine struggled).
It’s difficult to say too much about the film without giving away the plot. The scenario is as follows: Emma (Anne Hathaway) and Dexter (Jim Sturgess), who have known each other and off for a few years, have a drunken ‘encounter’ on graduation day, St Swithun’s Day, July 15th. They become friends and the highs and lows of their friendship are charted over the next two decades on July 15th of each year.
Dexter, a slightly foppish upper middle class drifter, becomes a self indulgent and frequently inebriated TV presenter who flits between London and his parents’ country pile, becoming only vaguely likeable towards the end. Emma, a hard working Northerner (though you wouldn’t tell, with that grating accent), harbours aspirations to become a writer but instead spends much of her early career waitressing in a Mexican restaurant. Here she meets wannabe comedian Ian (Rafe Spall), whom I thought outshone the main characters (‘the only way I’ll get to see my name in lights is if I change it to Emergency Exit’). Life events follow, with various twists and turns, but the When-Harry-Met-Sally subtext of Emma and Dexter’s relationship is never far away.
I came away from this movie with mixed feelings. It was pretty mushy, slightly formulaic and I found it difficult to really care about the characters. I suspect the plot may be better suited to a book than a film. However, there were some funny one-liners in what was ultimately a not-too-serious chick flick for a fun night out. Oh – and I want those orthopaedic high heels, please.
It seems that the World and his dog have read the novel of the same name by David Nicholls: a friend I texted earlier today happened to be reading it on holiday in Crete; someone I met at the cinema (incidentally, isn’t the Phoenix utterly wonderful for making new friends) had also read it. If it’s not already on Richard and Judy’s list, it will be. However, it might take a healthy dose of X chromosomes to love the movie adaptation (and even mine struggled).
It’s difficult to say too much about the film without giving away the plot. The scenario is as follows: Emma (Anne Hathaway) and Dexter (Jim Sturgess), who have known each other and off for a few years, have a drunken ‘encounter’ on graduation day, St Swithun’s Day, July 15th. They become friends and the highs and lows of their friendship are charted over the next two decades on July 15th of each year.
Dexter, a slightly foppish upper middle class drifter, becomes a self indulgent and frequently inebriated TV presenter who flits between London and his parents’ country pile, becoming only vaguely likeable towards the end. Emma, a hard working Northerner (though you wouldn’t tell, with that grating accent), harbours aspirations to become a writer but instead spends much of her early career waitressing in a Mexican restaurant. Here she meets wannabe comedian Ian (Rafe Spall), whom I thought outshone the main characters (‘the only way I’ll get to see my name in lights is if I change it to Emergency Exit’). Life events follow, with various twists and turns, but the When-Harry-Met-Sally subtext of Emma and Dexter’s relationship is never far away.
I came away from this movie with mixed feelings. It was pretty mushy, slightly formulaic and I found it difficult to really care about the characters. I suspect the plot may be better suited to a book than a film. However, there were some funny one-liners in what was ultimately a not-too-serious chick flick for a fun night out. Oh – and I want those orthopaedic high heels, please.
