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You may have seen the "nachos" scene from this movie on YouTube, and even though it's the one that made me laugh the hardest, it's not all this romantic comedy has going for it. Wallace (Radcliffe), an ex-med student still reeling from a breakup that occurred over a year ago, connects with Chantry (Kazan), an animator, at a party. As luck would have it, she's been in a relationship for five years. Meanwhile, there's Wallace's nacho-loving pal Allan (Driver), who much to his chagrin has 100% better luck with relationships and seemingly without having to try.
If this setup seems familiar, it is, but what writer/director Dowse and company do with it makes it stand out. The quick, witty, staccato rhythm dialog - think Juno's, but less precious and self-conscious - is often hard to keep up with, but it's still a lot of fun to take in. As for Radcliffe and Kazan, they have strong chemistry, it’s charming to watch them spend time together, and speaking of Radcliffe, it's simply nice to see him play someone in a contemporary setting and who does not have magical powers. If comedy is what draws you to movies like this one more than the romance, it's there, mostly courtesy of Driver's impulsive and annoyingly confident best bud, which also describes his recent hookup played by another welcome sight, Mackenzie Davis. The movie also might as well be a tourism advertisement for Toronto, which might as well be the fifth main character.
While its hipness and witticisms are less annoying than they are in similar movies, there are a few occasions when they venture into cringe territory. Also, despite a few surprises, the movie does not completely avoid predictably. I still found it to be infectiously charming, delightfully funny and it's very possible that it elicited a tear of joy or two. Oh, and it will make you crave nachos as well as anything that goes well with Cool Whip.
You may have seen the "nachos" scene from this movie on YouTube, and even though it's the one that made me laugh the hardest, it's not all this romantic comedy has going for it. Wallace (Radcliffe), an ex-med student still reeling from a breakup that occurred over a year ago, connects with Chantry (Kazan), an animator, at a party. As luck would have it, she's been in a relationship for five years. Meanwhile, there's Wallace's nacho-loving pal Allan (Driver), who much to his chagrin has 100% better luck with relationships and seemingly without having to try.
If this setup seems familiar, it is, but what writer/director Dowse and company do with it makes it stand out. The quick, witty, staccato rhythm dialog - think Juno's, but less precious and self-conscious - is often hard to keep up with, but it's still a lot of fun to take in. As for Radcliffe and Kazan, they have strong chemistry, it’s charming to watch them spend time together, and speaking of Radcliffe, it's simply nice to see him play someone in a contemporary setting and who does not have magical powers. If comedy is what draws you to movies like this one more than the romance, it's there, mostly courtesy of Driver's impulsive and annoyingly confident best bud, which also describes his recent hookup played by another welcome sight, Mackenzie Davis. The movie also might as well be a tourism advertisement for Toronto, which might as well be the fifth main character.
While its hipness and witticisms are less annoying than they are in similar movies, there are a few occasions when they venture into cringe territory. Also, despite a few surprises, the movie does not completely avoid predictably. I still found it to be infectiously charming, delightfully funny and it's very possible that it elicited a tear of joy or two. Oh, and it will make you crave nachos as well as anything that goes well with Cool Whip.