How To Be Single

This review may contain spoilers!

Whoever wrote this film should maybe re-evaluate their career as a screenwriter. I would give How To Be Single a 1.5/10.

There were some genuinely funny scenes in this film, I think where it really excelled were the great one-liners.

Rebel Wilson, who played Robin, didn't have much in terms of a character but was easily one of the funniest roles of the film; some of her quips were so good that you had to wonder how much was adlib or good line delivery or both. Damon Wayans Jr, who played David, played one of the more genuine roles of the film; I enjoyed his chemistry with Johnson as well as his interactions with his onscreen daughter. Anders Holm, who played Tom, gave quite a fun laidback performance in this film; I liked that he displayed some great chemistry with Johnson and Brie. Jake Lacy, who played Ken, had a rather charming bit of onscreen chemistry with Mann; the scene where he discovers that she's pregnant is one of my favourite scenes of the film. Jason Mantzoukas, who played George, wasn't in this film much but is immediately as fun as he was in Dirty Grandpa; the scene in which he tells Holm to stay away from his fiance is hilarious. Alison Brie, who played Lucy, is one of the funniest actors of this film; her scene where she breaks down in front of a group of children is without a doubt my favourite scene of the film.

However the best performance came from Leslie Mann, who played Meg. Mann is definitely one of the more seasoned comedic actors in this film; she knew exactly how to land her jokes and where to place them. However I think what eclipsed her comedic talent was her incredible portrayal of her character's decision that she wants a baby, it's a great transition and quite a moving scene. Her chemistry and relationship with Lacy is great and really well explored.

The plot of this film is a shambles, I still don't think there was a point to this movie so I'm just going to unpack it a bit. Throughout this film where are told this story isn't 'like all the other stories' but this isn't the case; we're treated to just under two hours of a woman going through several relationship to eventually discover her own self-identity. Sounds familiar right? Beyond Johnson and Mann there is no real attention to characters, Wayans Jr has a sudden breakdown over his dead wife even though we haven't been told about her yet, Wilson is revealed to be rick for no apparent reason and Holm seems to be this fictional mythic guy who sleeps around and has designed his apartment to be a fortress against relationships. Alison Brie is a great performer but i still don't really understand what her role was doing in this film; it seemed like an incredibly unnecessary subplot. Ultimately you get bored of this generic romcom, you aren't attached to these characters and you feel bogged down with unnecessary scenes and subplots. The cinematography is lazy in this film, you feel bombarded by the same static shots over and over again. The editing for this is simple, you're even assaulted by some jarring and sudden cuts at times. The soundtrack for this film is filled with popular music, seemingly for the sake of it because the music serves no purpose to the film itself.

Dakota Johnson, who played Alice, was an awful protagonist for this film; I thought she couldn't do worse than 50 Shades Of Grey but here we are. Nicholas Braun, who played Josh, is about as appealing as a rotten grape in this film; his chemistry with Johnson is almost nonexistent and rather cringeworthy.