One More Time

Just watched it on Netflix with a spare 90 minutes and really enjoyed it. Sure, it's a a Groundhog day retake, but then that itself wasn't original. Both stories are as old as time itself. But they at least call out the previous film as part of the plot.

It has a great message (look after your friends!) and is acted well by all involved, with great characters.

The only issue would be that Hedda Stiernstedt looks far too young to be 40. In fact when I watched the trailer I thought that she was playing Amelia's 18 year old version!

I'd call it a bit of light-hearted fun, definitely worthy of your time. And it did get me feeling like I should try to reconnect with some people from my past...

As "One More Time" (2023 release from Sweden; 85 min) opens, Amelia is celebrating her 18th birthday. We then skip to day, as Amelia celebrates her 40th birthday. She quits her lousy retail job and instead goes to the pub to get drunk. Afterwards she fumbles and stumbles, and gets hit by a truck. When she wakes up, it's her 18th birthday again... At this point we are 10 minutes into the movie.

Couple of comments: this Swedish film liberally borrows and steals from Groundhog Day, even putting in Groundhog Day as part of the storyline. It also reminds of 19 Going on 30. In other words: this movie does not shine because of its (lack of) originality. But what it does do, and very well at that, is to showcase how a 40 yo woman looks back at her 18 yo self, and sees the many mistakes that she made back then. So the movie is filled with regret and it makes you realize that, when you get down to the very essence, the thing that matters more than anything else is: BE KIND to one another, starting TODAY.

"One More Time" started streaming on Netflix just the other day. At a mere 85 minutes, this movie just flew by, and I quite enjoyed it, more so that I had expected. If you liked Groundhog Day or 13 Going on 30, I'd readily suggest you check this out, and draw your own conclusion.

I wouldn't say I was excited to watch this because we know how all time travel and time loop movies go. Similar to Groundhog Day Amelia, a 40 something woman, who's quite a loser, relives her 18th birthday day after day. And while it's fun, she realises that life at 18 is really self centered.

Although the movie is predictable, its beautiful to see the different interactions of the characters, all while realising that it's not about her. It's the nuances that do it for me. The story of rekindling relationships, of starting again even if it's 22 years later or having a second chance to do things right.

Just because the plot is to relive a significant day and as a result become a better person, does not put this Swedish movie in the same class with the incomparable Bill Murray. It doesn't even put it in the same school.

First the dubbing is dreadful. All the voices have rhe flat affect of dialog read off a script.

The second issue is the appearance of Amelia who is the same actor both as an 18 year old and a 40 year old. As a result, I was confused as the scenes shifted back and forth.

Third too much vapid giggling. That alone was enough to give it a reduced rating.

Fifth generally insipid acting and script. The ending was barely worth the time spent getting there.

I wouldn't have wasted my time but a NYTimes reviewer gushed over it.

Maybe if I was still 18, it would have appealed to me, but somehow I doubt it.

I felt I have to write a review, because after I watched the movie, I read the comments here, and I couldn't disseagree more with the reviews that says it's a terrible movie. Maybe this movie is not for everyone, but as a 28 years old woman, I could relate with her a lot, or at least with her 40 years old self. During the movie I was thinking about my past, about the people I spent time with, so I could reflect in my past self a lot. Also I loved to see the 80s-90s outfits here. It was a light movie, but with meanings- at least for me. I liked the ending too, you can't see a lot from the old movies, but it's deffinitelly could happen back there. This movie brozght me for me some time to think about myself again. So I really l recommend this movie for anybody :)