Not So Irreplaceable
I am honestly stuck as to how I feel about this film. As much as it tries to be a touching but yet fatally doomed love story based on a young good looking couple it ends up feeling a hollow cliché of a story that lacks any actual emotional payoff. That is not to say it isn’t a well-acted or visually pretty film it just was absent of any pivotal scenes towards the end that would have made the film worth it. Before I go off too much about how the film disappointed me I should state what I enjoyed about the film.
The directing is really well done and Stephanie Laing did a great job at creating a stunning and quirky looking film. However, I honestly felt as though there were set scenes that could have been handled better or even added in entirely to add more of an emotional investment and make you break down in tears at the end. The other highlight of the film was the cast. Michiel Huisman is a brilliant and yet underrated actor and shines in this film and I thoroughly enjoyed his previous work like ‘The Age Of Adeline’ and ‘The Invitation’. At first, it took me a while to work out it was even him as he doesn’t have his usual look and aesthetic. I feel as though his performance was really good despite being rather reserved. I don’t know if that was just how Michiel was being directed/instructed to act or if it was a creative decision on his end. However, his performance shined more so in the subtlety of his acting. However, this was an issue I found with all of the performances overall so I am left thinking it is probably how everyone was directed/instructed to act. Gugu Mbatha-Raw also gave a really good performance and you genuinely connect with her and this difficult journey she is on and then get completely lost when she tries to play matchmaker for her own fiance. At first, I thought this was going to be a light and whimsical film that had a big emotional finish but it doesn’t end up having any of those big emotive scenes.
The only other highlight of this film would be the supporting cast which stars Christopher Walken, Kate Mckinnon, Steve Coogan and Jacki Weaver. These actors help make the film better and in someways help make the film a decent film to watch. Otherwise, you would be left feeling you are just watching a film that tries to be an ill-fated romantic comedy and drama but somehow fails to achieve any of it. I personally love films similar to this and even as a man can get quite emotional invested and even cry at the end. However, this film didn’t make me laugh or cry. I did end up shedding a singular tear but on reflection, I believe that was me emotionally imprinting my own relationship into those circumstances and not so much the film, story or performances. At the end of the film, I ended up spending thirty minutes discussing with my fiancee the ways how I would have ended the film or handled the film overall differently. This film had an interesting premise and managed to fail in carrying out its intentions and I feel restricted it’s actors and did not give them an option to shine or pull at the heartstrings at the end. I only hope that Michiel Huisman continues to do romantic movies as he does seem to have a natural aptitude for them.