This was so enjoyable! Totally sweet and charming and refreshingly old-school - it's a true romantic comedy without any pretensions of being something else. It has quite a few hilarious moments and a really bright spirit to it that makes the time fly by. Lake Bell is fantastic and totally steals the entire movie - it's another showcase for her after the wonderful In A World... and everyone kind of plays second fiddle to her in the process. I think this could definitely find an audience - it's totally mainstream accessible and reminded me a lot of the Bridget Jones movies. It's almost odd it doesn't have a distributor in the US yet. B+

It does have a distributor. Saban Films. So much for a possible sleeper hit. I'm sure it will be a limited/VOD release given their track record.

http://www.indiewire.com/article/saban- ... e-20150421

Well The Homesman went pretty wide. I feel better about this than Magnolia.

This was announced after I saw it by the way.

Man Up

This should have been released at Christmas. It feels like a new [smaller scale] Love Actually. In short, it's just another brilliant British rom-com. It's just really funny, and adorable, and it's cast almost to perfection. Simon Pegg plays a soon-to-be-divorced marketing manager in his late 30s and Lake Bell plays a journalist in her mid 30s. They meet as part of a mix up and end up falling for each other, but it's not as simple as it sounds. The events that unfold are ridiculously crazy, but very sweet. Watch out for Rory Kinnear (yes, Penny Dreadful's Caliban), who is both eerily frightening and very funny. He's a blast from the minute he enters, as he changes the tone with his sketchy presence and antics.

Personally I feel the script should be rewritten into the "Dummies Guide to First Dates". It's that good! In its own way it breaks the first date dilemma into bite-size chunks, and in general is just a very feel-good movie for all initial dating woes. The dialogue is crisp and witty, not just from Pegg and Bell, but also from the great supporting turns by Ken Stott and the beautiful Sharon Horgan. There are silly parts (the race back to the cantina and the house party teens joining Jack's search for Nancy's parents house), but they never feel forced or detached from the expected rom-com narrative. It's all very fun.

And what a year Simon Pegg is having! First with Kill Me Three Times (B+), then with his almost star-stealing performance in Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation (A), and now with another home run. He is fastly proving himself as an adaptable and true comedic-leading man.

B+

Nice review, agree with pretty much all those points. I don't feel as enthusiastic about it, but it's pretty close, and I'll plan to write a bit more later.

B

So I didn't "write a bit more later". It's an enjoyable film, I should give it a re-watch.

That ... took a year to write.