Blessing in Disguise

Katie is looking for love and when an ex turns up at her door after months of no contact she thinks maybe this is the chance. Unfortunately, well, "that's herpes", because Katie actually learns that she probably is now officially a "herp". However when a venereal disease closes a door it can also open a window, and Katie's bad news may be a Blessing in Disguise (+5 points for using the title in the plot summary).

This little romantic comedy wins points from me immediately by playing along the traditional rom-com route but doing so with a rather unusual narrative device at its core – that of genital herpes. It uses this to good effect to get good laughs and some nice material while also delivering some solid romantic comedy material and a certain amount of charm. The delivery is very perky and lively and I quite liked this although it must be said that it does get close to being overly performed and a bit precious at the same time so if you are not totally onboard with it then it is possible it may grate on you a bit.

The cast is where this would occur because while they are snappy, funny and pretty charming within the context of the genre, they are a bit too "performy" so to say; not a great explanation but they are almost overly perky and lively so that I was constantly reminded I was meant to laugh and be entertained by them rather than them just simply making me laugh and entertaining me (which they also did). It is a minor quibble and I doubt most viewers who are into it would even feel slightly the same way, since generally the cast do a good job to get the mood of the film and run with it. It is also nicely directed, looking good and capturing the sensibilities of the rom-com genre (the wacky, the romantic, the comedic).

It is short and sweet and for my small reservations I did really enjoy it for being an effective mini-rom-com.