Meet Me in New York

I feel sorry for the composer - he tries to provide some musical carpet but nothing really can raise this one long yawn into any sort of life. Nothing seems to matter in this pile of mediocrity and IMO it's a miss. Zzzz.

Where do these movie companies get their actors from ? Because if those in this film are the best of those auditioned, then the movie industry is in dire straits. The "acting" was forced, and who meets their best friend in a coffee shop with squeals to tell them they need to see each other more ? The over-acting of the friend was cringe worthy, and she needs to have more acting lessons.

Then there is the precocious child who knows and demands everything. Once she came into the picture, we were in children's TV territory when a birthday party was mentioned and organised. At this point I'd had enough and switched off.

The lead actress I really did not like the lead actress. I found her to be quite annoying. She irked me the whole movie with her sucking her teeth, signing and just her overall dullness. She wasn't super friendly or endearing. I don't know why she was chosen as the lead in a romantic comedy. She would have been better off as a supporting actress or maybe in another genre but she isn't particularly well suited for rom com.

I can't believe I made it through this movie. I usually will call it quits if I'm not interested in a flick but for some unknown reason, I pushed through. However, I noticed that when I would return to the movie after having it paused, I inwardly groaned. I do not know why I didn't just cut it off but something inside me wanted to finish it. It's just slow and there's no chemistry between the two leads. I found the developing relationship because the supporting actors more interesting.

There's actually a line in the script that requires the lead man to state the immortal words "That was the worst acting ever". It suggests that the film's makers didn't take themselves too seriously and that is the best way to approach watching this movie. There is a sense in which the idea of a lavish party for a ten-year old child, complete with hired alpacas, is extravagant and beyond what most viewers will have experienced in their own lives. But this is escapist fantasy and, in any case, wait to see how the party turns out! There's a (lightly peddled) moral message here and I enjoyed watching it. There are several 'should they or shouldn't they' dilemmas running in parallel (a promotion, a move abroad, letting down a friend, should they even turn up to the party?) and I think it all knitted together quite nicely. This is not great cinematic art and neither is it a waste of time. Agreed, the New York depicted is a very clean and safe version and I'm not sure the Canadian lead actress convinces as a daughter of the South, but these are distractions. My advice is to follow the plot as it unravels and recognise it for being a simple, well-intentioned piece of family film-making. If you have a ten year-old child to watch it with you, it will be the perfect recipe and give you lots to discuss afterwards.

Just about handled the ridiculously dysfunctional lead pair but I couldn't get passed the supersize kids' party - when the venue suggested kids paint on the walls and the venue would just paint over - hello! Would cost a fortune to repaint that studio! Too often parties are a total nightmare ie when birthdays just become a competitive cash-wars extravaganza (or in this case guilty conscience) and not about the kids themselves. If they have everything young, there's nothing to look forward to later in life. One activity is a beautiful treat - stick with that and they'll appreciate all events, even when they are going through financial hardship.