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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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Something Borrowed (Film)

by Joshua Blackman | May 02, 2011 13:04 | Edited May 02, 2011 13:34

While the screenplay reveals surprising nuance and there are standout performances, this too often succumbs to the schmaltzy tropes of the genre.

It's tough out there for the thirty-something single woman. Just as society expects marriage and children in short order, people begin to wonder: if you're not settled down by your mid-thirties, surely you must be some kind of failure? That's part of what nags at Rachel White (a quite lovely Ginnifer Goodwin), an unattached New York City lawyer with a crush on her best friend's fiancé. She's known the hunky Dex (Tom Cruise-lookalike, Colin Egglesfield) since college and, after revealing her long-held feelings, ends up spending the night with him. Racked with guilt and the knowledge that the love of her life is marrying another woman, Rachel must decide between her romantic notions and the virtues of her long term friendship.

 

The answer should be obvious, for that friend (played by a seemingly unhappy Kate Hudson) is an obnoxious, selfish twat not worthy of Rachel's time. It should also be obvious because this is a mainstream romantic comedy, though surprisingly, the abundant clichés ("I never thought someone like you could ever like someone like me!") don't reflect in the sometimes surprising narrative. There's nuance in Something Borrowed, adapted as it is from the bestselling chick lit novel by Emily Giffin, but little insight. It's predictably watery and schmaltzy, though Goodwin does her empathetic best with the only fully realised character.

 

Lending solid support is a very funny John Krasinski (The Office, Away We Go) as Rachel's gay, level-headed friend, and Ashley Williams, who is entertainingly one-note as a randy member of their circle of friends. But for every good scene - such as a tense standoff during a game of beach badminton - there's a clunky montage and a teary-eyed declaration of love in the rain. Something Borrowed succumbs too often to the tropes of the genre, which is a shame, because Goodwin and Krasinski's valiant efforts deserved better.