About Fate

If romantic comedies are your thing, go for it. But if not, you might have a hard time with this one. Most romcoms are unrealistic, and this one certainly pushes the boundaries into fantasy land. Yet it retains and transmits an inherent sweetness that saves it, barely. I almost turned it off twice, once during the chance carriage encounter with the couple played by Ricardo Pitts-Wiley and Rose Weaver, and once during the scenes when Thomas Mann's Griffin meets Lewis Tan's Kip at the wedding. This would be a 3 or 4 if not for the convincing chemistry between Emma Robert's Margot and Thomas Mann's Griffin. These are two good actors, and they had chemistry on screen and conveyed an inherent kindness and positivity that saves the film and makes us walk away happy.

The BEST rom-coms have a dark edge ("Destination Wedding", "Meet Cute", "Always Be My Maybe", "Palm Springs", etc) but some with NO edge get by (just) on the 'charm' of their leads (without which they'd be Hallmark sludge)... like "About Fate". Emma Roberts & Thomas Mann are likeable twenty-something strangers who on New Years Eve Eve (warning: it's a festive movie) are SUPPOSED to get engaged to their respective ill-suited partners Lewis Tan & Madelaine Petsch... but 'fate' (or 'serendipity'? - no, THAT rom-com had more edge too) has other plans for this perfect pair. It's soft & schmaltzy fare, but for the right audience, it is passable.

This is not really a review, it should be taken more as a collection of impressions of the film.

I imagined a terrible, classic and very boring love film that also wanted to pass itself off as a comedy and instead I found a more than acceptable film that manages to entertain very well and even if it does not add anything to the now overcrowded genre of romantic comedies. The film is very good above all because it does not have many pretensions and even if it makes some classic slip in the usual dynamics of a poor romantic comedy, the film is still valid. Last small flaw, the ending is too slow and the film would have been better keeping the fast pace of the first part.

An old style movie without the presumption to be a "neorealism movie" like those that win awards but nobody watches. I really enjoyed it. In a world where people confuse feelings with suffering, illness and other "real" things, well, watching this movie is like fresh water. Acting is fine, the story is clear since the first scene but who cares? We all need to dream, to love, to connect with our heart without constantly thinking about our real problems. We all live our days surrounded by anger, poverty, inflation, Covid, cancer, war, toxic relationships and a movie like this (as in the past) is a blessing.

I absolutely loved this movie.

In 2022, it is very hard to find a story like this.

The story is very character driven, there is no unnecessary subplots to confuse the viewer and there is no exploring side-character's stories unnecessarily.

Absolutely zero mention of THE MESSAGE.

(This is why this is a rare find in 2022)

In this movie, the just the lead actors telling their story how they meet on a fateful night and how they keep meeting for some reason is explored. It's just lead actors telling their story and the supporting actors are supporting the leads' story to progress.

Seven out of ten because there are some goofs and mishaps in the movie that make the viewer feel like deceived but it does not hurt the story's continuation.

A must watch if you love rom-coms which has the new year's eve theme bound to it.