Highly Overrated But Still Good

Don't listen to the Hype. It's awful

Did you people see the same film I saw?

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Love is not simple, as the film's protagonist Duncan discovers to his increasing despair over the course of five love affairs. It's something most people already know, however in this case the lesson comes in the manner of a satirical but dismal take on the classic British romance comedy. The film presents a tragicomic view at the world of dating, with Duncan having relationships with five women, all of which go bad. The first two don't get very far, the third comes to an acrimonious end through a dispute, the fourth runs out of steam, and the fifth is where the most drama comes in. This would be a bitterly bleak tale if it wasn't for Duncan's comic commentary: he presents the sad situation in a sardonic, sly manner that makes the situation funny for us, but retains its sadness and dignity where he is concerned. The fact that it's so true to life for a lot of people is the main appeal of this tale: a lot of us have trouble finding and being with people, and can get disillusioned at how difficult it gets.Brendan Patricks carries the film as Duncan, whose initially bright outlook on life slowly darkens and becomes more melancholy with each failed romance. The rest of the cast are more or less adequate, acting as subjects to explore a specific dilemma Duncan goes through; it may have been better for each of the girls to have given their own views so that they're less sketchy, but then the point is that Brendan doesn't understand their perspective, and so it works out in a painfully realistic and understandable manner. The film ends on a bleak note, with Duncan deciding to just move on with life and away from love for the sake of his sanity... and then the adventure continues, as he meets someone new. He represents the eternal lover in quest, through hope and despair, of an ideal soulmate to be with. And that's what most of us romantics are.

Four stars because Brendan Patricks is cute; this character could easily be EXTREMELY annoying, but he never is, not for one second.The theme park gimmick is sort of clever, and the red boots are hilarious. I laughed out loud. Otherwise this movie is mostly tiresome and occasionally irritating - especially the WAY-TOO-LONG final section with Naomie Harris.But then I'm gay; I like women, and I admire them a lot, but the notion of being attracted to them sexually is weird. I can usually get around that hurdle when watching straight movies, but for some reason I couldn't with this one.

I think this film may not cross water - the Americans won't get the humour, and the Europeans will be wondering why we have to work so hard to get in to bed with each other (its why there are so many drunk British people in Spain, we can't do it sober).There are two aspects of the film which bring it to the top of the pile - the script and the cinematography. The script is not just tight and well-timed; its storyline is a fairly accurate, almost forensic, depiction of why we keep screwing up in relationships (that's a British 'we' of course). The imagery is fantastic, a clever mix of interesting/beautiful angles and variously styled animated sequences.The acting is good but not great, but perhaps that was an implicit theme within the film...very clever.

I have to say that I decided to watch this after reading the other 4 reviews on this movie. Now I wish I didn't. It failed to impress me on so many levels. A large part of the movie is narrated, which may work well under certain circumstances and when done in the right conditions but for me... well, narration in a movie should have a much smaller part to play (while introducing some scenes, or explaining a few things) not constitute almost one third of it.Moreover, I don't know if the director intended it to be this way, but the whole emotional picture of the movie seems so bleak and sordid. On top of that you're never really being told why the main character is being dumped by all of his 5 girlfriends in a row.I mean, it's kind of obvious that he exhibits some type of wuss-like behavior, at least with some of them, but you never get to really learn the women's perspective on the matter, or see the character having an epiphany on the reasons why his sentimental life has been a complete failure so far. He doesn't seem to be capable to understand why women run off him and by the end of the movie he isn't any wiser on the matter then at the beginning. Perhaps a little more depressed.Due to that fact, the meeting with the last girl in the end of the movie, instead of shedding a ray of hope on his future love life, it kind of leaves you with the sentiment that he's probably going to screw that up, as well.I have to admit, it has a few moments when it gets a little warmer and it gives you the feeling that it might get better from there on. But then it ultimately disappoints.As I said, totally unimpressive and forgettable, in my book. But that's just my two cents' worth.