Save the Date

SAVE THE DATE just doesn't quite work. I didn't actively dislike the movie, but when it was all over, it just sort of sat there without leaving any kind of impression to speak of.

The main character is played by Lizzy Caplan, and right there you know you'll have something interesting. While not the greatest actress of all time by a mile, she brings a certain energy and commitment to her performances that makes even a throwaway character (like the one in CLOVERFIELD) somehow the most interesting person in the film. She's a bookstore manager who is also seemingly on the cusp of breaking out as a visual artist (her first show is coming up). She dating the lead singer of a popular regional rock band, and they're moving in together. In the background, her sister (Alison Brie) is engaged to the guitarist in the same band (Martin Starr, giving a performance quite a long way off from his work in stuff like SILICON VALLEY...I mean that in a good way, he's showing some range here.) But Caplan doubts this is the relationship for her, and things unravel early on (and somewhat spectacularly too).

Caplan and her boyfriend are left somewhat adrift. The boyfriend pines, hopes for a reunion even though he's seething with anger, etc. Caplan professes to be happy, but it's clear she isn't. And her sister is oddly resentful of Caplan choosing this time to distract from her own upcoming nuptials. The relationship of the two is very much strained. They know each other better than anyone else knows them...and they love each other but don't always like what they see in the other.

Anyway, this makes it sound like SAVE THE DATE is a pretty heavy drama. It's not. But it's also not light-footed or light-hearted enough to be a full on "rom com." It falls in between and this is the most unfortunate thing. It's not funny enough to be a memorable comedy. It doesn't dig deep enough to be a really meaningful drama. And Caplan's character is difficult to like. She hems and haws and never REALLY seems to understand that her actions have consequences on the happiness or lack thereof of the people closest to her. Brie comes off as a bit shrewish and one-dimensional, and is thus also a little difficult to like.

Yes, real life is a bit messy and sloppy. We aren't always likeable and we often aren't our best selves. But for a movie, we should at least CARE about how things turn out for many of the characters. We're asked to invest in these folks for a couple of hours, and the best films make it easy. This film makes it hard. I rooted (to some extent) for Caplan, but mostly because of how much I liked her in, oh, MASTERS OF SEX or PARTY DOWN or even TRUE BLOOD or CASTLE ROCK. It's possible that Caplan fell short as an actor in this film, but I think the writing and direction were the true issues. The directing was uninspired, at best. It didn't even do a good job really establishing a sense of place (at the end, my wife asked me, "where did that movie take place?" and I had to really think about it.) The writing was ambitious, I would say, but is having a couple "meet cute" in a bookstore really something we can accept anymore? That felt so terribly lazy.

So, while I didn't feel I had truly wasted my time watching this, and while I was reasonably diverted...you can certainly find many better rom-coms or rom-dramas out there that will serve you even better.

You don't really have to Save the Date as it isn't really worth watching. Lizzy Caplan (Cloverfield, Bachelorette) stars as indecisive Sarah, who runs from her long-term relationship with a musician (Geoffrey Arend - 500 Days of Summer, Devil) when he decides to propose to her during the encore of one of his concerts. Sarah's sister Beth (Alison Brie - "Community", "Mad Men") is getting married and while she loves her sister they don't always get along (and Sarah NEVER takes her advice). We get an hour and a half of this as Sarah starts a new relationship with Jonathan (Mark Webber - For a Good Time Call, Scott Pilgrim vs the World) but then begins to question that too when he turns out to be "too good".

This is another tale of a thirtysomething struggling to figure things out ... and this could become a brand new sub-genre of drama. Save the Date doesn't really give an audience anything new to enjoy or appreciate cinematically ... we are just getting another version of this oft-told experience/story. As this one never rises above what we have already seen, it isn't anything to recommend (unless you really like Caplan of course ... whom I wish would get the perfect role someday -- and this isn't it!).

Thanks for asking us to Save the Date, but I will regrettably decline as there is surely something more interesting to watch.

Sarah (Lizzy Caplan) and Beth (Alison Brie) are sisters. Beth is planning a wedding to Andrew (Martin Starr). Sarah rejects live-in boyfriend Kevin (Geoffrey Arend)'s proposal and moves out. She starts dating Jonathan (Mark Webber) who has had a crush on her.

I love all of them as actors and like the characters they play. Tthe story is somewhat bland and I can't really say I love this movie. The story is fine, but it is nothing special. I do wish it has snappier dialog.

"Are you happier?" Sarah (Caplan) is starting a new life living with her boyfriend but she isn't totally sure that is what she wants. After a few months she is starting to relax when out of nowhere he proposes to her. After saying no she moves out and isn't sure what to do next. The whole time this is going on her sister is getting ready to marry his best friend. I will start by saying I know the movie isn't geared toward me (being a man) but I did think it was OK. It is a little cookie cutter and the "twists" you can almost feel coming the entire time. If you have seen the movie Your Sisters Sister this is very comparable to that one although I thought that was a little better. As far as a date movie goes there are better and more romantic choices but this is not a bad movie to watch with your significant other. Pretty much if you liked Your Sisters Sister you will like this one as well. Overall, a little generic but overall a good movie. I give it a B.

This film achieves one thing very well; it is an expose on narcissism while being completely unaware of it. It's so ironic it's good and awful at the same time. The only likable character in the entire movie is Andrew, Beth's fiancée, and his role is quite marginal. The rest of the characters are completely self involved and overly dramatic. The heroine, whom I'm sure was meant to be endearing and enthralling, but is neither, is an "artist" who is evidently inspired by the most important thing in her life; herself. Every work of art she creates is a rendition of some "monumental" moment in her life. I hated this movie because of each characters' self aggrandizement but I loved this movie because I believe it is a pretty accurate depiction of the prolonged adolescent youths of modern day LA. It would be one thing to overtly address/discuss the narcissistic tendencies of each character but some of the "message," which is so so subtle would have been lost. If the movie had acknowledged the blatant theme of narcissism I may have had more sympathy for the characters (which I would prefer to do when watching a film) but it was never acknowledged, it was presented as acceptable, normal, even admirable behaviour and for that reason I couldn't stand any of the characters. No punchline was funny, no pain was potent, no fear, disappointment or happiness was empathetic. They were all just unlike-able people. I'm sure it was never the intention of the director, writer or actors to name and identify the overriding theme of the film. They were all, most likely, completely oblivious to the subject matter of the film and that's what makes it so perfect. If they knew what they were doing I give them major props for being so true to the nature of narcissism and hiding the theme so plainly in sight. Besides enjoying the unintentional subject matter this movie was terrible, boring, bromidic and cliché.