I had some good hopes for this movie when I saw the trailer. I've come to really love Love Actually, and I think Richard Curtis has an ear for writing ensemble pieces that balance some tricky issues. Unfortunately, this one tries to replicate the magic of Love Actually in style, but not in substance. There's still a whimsical, and occasionally manipulative romantic edge, but the depth isn't there.
What makes Love Actually work is that the variety of plots explore some very different types of stories, and not all of them end well. This ends with good news for everyone, and a terribly dumb lesson learned.
There are a lot of little things that bothered me in this movie. First, it focuses on a tight-knit family that spends a lot of time together. They have a fairly secluded estate, no one seems to work. Why should I care about this family? They seem aristocratic. Once our protagonist - Tim - learns of his ability, he uses it in an effort to undo his awkwardness at a New Year's Eve party. Then he does what he can to try to woo a girl staying with the family for the Summer.
What bothers me about this is that he doesn't do anything that isn't selfish. The first thing that he does that isn't selfish is an obvious plot hole. (This is when he helps out the playwright. He derails his romance in helping him, but he doesn't seem to understand that he can try different methods of helping the guy out.)
The thing that bothered me the most was that the movie spends about half of the running time focusing on Tim's romance and life with Mary. Then suddenly, it shifts focus to being about Tim's relationship with his father. That's a reasonably satisfying story. But neither of these stories are well-defined. There are subplots, some of them good, some of them bad.
Spoilers abound below.
The father gives Tim a plan for happiness that he found. Live each day twice. First, live it normally, then the second time through, live it while enjoying it. This is absurd! How dumb does Tim have to be? When we first see him going through the normal day, he seems to be actively trying to be a tool. He didn't need to re-live the day in order to appreciate it! At the end of the movie, he makes reference to not using his ability to re-live, and that he just does it right the first time.
How can I care about such a thick-headed lead?
His romantic interest, Mary, is a mixed character. I like that she's an introvert. There aren't enough of them in movies. But as the movie moves along, I like her less and less. She isn't much of a character. She exists as an object of desire for Tim. And later, as a baby-machine.
Two other complaints, both the same idea. Tim is a lawyer. We see him at work twice. He seems to have a lot of free time on his hands. After having a baby, Tim and Mary don't seem to have any problems doing whatever they want. Both of these problems could be addressed by giving Tim a different job.
Despite how much I'm ranting about this, I actually found the movie enjoyable for the most part. I don't know if I can overcome these weaknesses. Maybe when I revisit it in another year or so.
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