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Men In Black 3

It’s not a sequel that needed to be made, but thanks to the charm of its leads and a tone that harks back to the wit and humour of the original, it’s a pretty enjoyable trip.

Bel Ami

The excellent female support cast saves this patchy effort, which is let down by its leading man and a flat screenplay.

The Dictator

A disappointing, often repulsive and mean-spirited mess of a film with seemingly only one real criterion on its agenda: to shock and offend.

The Woman In Black

Packed with atmosphere, this old-fashioned but deftly told ghost story delivers ample chills and thrills.

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Happy Ever Afters (Film)

by Dannielle Snowdon | July 07, 2011 09:33 | Edited July 07, 2011 09:34

While there are enjoyable moments, it’s difficult to roll with the increasingly absurd narrative as we’re never really invested in the characters.

While Sally Hawkins tries her best with an energetic performance, Happy Ever Afters still falls flat with an uninspired storyline and unbelievable relationships. Hawkins (Happy Go Lucky, Made In Deganham) stars as Maura, a financially struggling single mother getting paid to marry Wilson, an African immigrant facing deportation, much to the dismay of her daughter Molly (Sinead Maguire). At the hotel where Maura and Wilson's reception is being held, Freddie (Tom Riley) and Sophie (Jade Yourell), a divorced couple, have also just married for the second time.  

 

Happy Ever Afters starts off promisingly enough with a montage revealing Maura and Freddie getting ready for their weddings. Thanks to clever editing, the audience is led to believe that they are marrying each other, but when they reach the end of the aisle, they're faced with two completely different partners...

 

On their own, the characters do a great job to move the story along, but as an ensemble they lack cohesion. The relationship that sparks between Maura and Wilson never really works, due to a lack of chemistry, and the audience will find themselves hard pressed to care about this couple as they're thrown together in increasingly unbelievable circumstances.

 

Many of the film's best scenes feature young Sinead Maguire, whose performance alongside Hawkins is the driving force of the film. Touchingly, she helps to anchor the drama amidst all the crazy characters and antics buzzing around her. While this is being touted as a comedy, the laughs are few and most of them come via the immigration detectives as they attempt to judge the authenticity of the marriage between Maura and Wilson.

 

All this considered, Happy Ever Afters is an enjoyable slice of light entertainment. The big Irish families exhibit such exuberance that you do feel taken by the characters and wish that you could connect with them just a little bit more.