The Love Punch

So I this trailer a few weeks a go and I liked what I saw, it looked funny and entertaining. The movie itself isn't too bad either; the story is basically a divorced couple have to venture to France to steal a diamond because the owner has stole all their money via his company. The premise is nice and simple, a tad boring in places as they use one or two cliché scenes that you get in these types of films; the beginning is a bit slow and some of the jokes fall a bit flat but by the time the plot gets going it's quite enjoyable, the humor is classic British humor mixed with some modern stuff as well which makes a nice blend of funny, the characters were a amusing to watch and although I wasn't invested in their troubles I enjoyed watching them go about the heist. The shots were nice as they showed lots of France and gave the feel of it with the French music played over the scenes. All-in-all I think the older generation will get more out of it that than others but as a young person I enjoyed the majority of it.

Despite good ingredients like good acting, charming actors and nice locations, the film disappoints as a comedy. The script and dialogs are not funny enough.

In promotion of this film, Emma Thompson did an interview with Entertainment Weekly in which she lamented the "vulgar" comedies of the day. I think we know what she is referring to. Films about bodily functions. Scenes of crass nudity. Comedies seemingly targeted at the fraternity crowd. Anything by Seth Rogan.

"The Love Punch", as she was implying, is the antidote. It's the story of two older exes who reunite for a noble cause--to regain their retirement funds, which were callously liquidated by the young CEO of a predatory French company, Lexon. Emma Thompson plays the ex-wife, Kate Jones. Pierce Brosnan plays the ex-husband, Richard Jones, the owner of a company that was recently purchased by the French company. He is looking forward to his retirement years, until he is blindsided by the tyranny of Lexon.

He has to admit to his ex-wife that their retirement funds are gone, threatening their golden years and the college funds of their children. This is the setup that triggers a parody of "Mission Impossible", in which the couple reunites in a scheme to steal a celebrated diamond. They are assisted by their long-married friends, humorously played by Celia Imrie and Timothy Spall.

The unlikely foursome are the soul of unsuave and uncool, and that is the source of most of the comedy in this cute film. It's a light-hearted, kind film that offers later-life observations about the concept of length-of-life romance. I also love the soundtrack, which defines the tone of the film with pinpoint precision.

This film could appeal to anyone, but those who can relate to Empty Nest Syndrome and the challenges of Retirement are its primary audience.

I do enjoy a good British romantic comedy. My guilty pleasure I guess. They just make you laugh and feel good, just a little escapism and shouldn't be taken seriously. Being serious, well, that's for other films. Having said that, this movie has so many things wrong with it, it should be a huge failure, but oddly enough I loved it. I thought the two leads Pierce Brosnan and Emma Thompson were exceptionally well cast as they were so believable and likable. The other "good guy" Anglo-Saxon characters were good and as in so many other British films, the bad guys were French. I'm not sure how to judge their performances. The French accents were really dodgy at best and totally unbelievable, but this just added to all the fun. You know what? I must just watch this again, now.

An honest to goodness fun British comedy. Brosnan and Thomson are very funny with great backup from Timothy Spall and Celia Imrey. Great to see a film with a story, albeit simple, but with well crafted script. There are several scenes mimicking some great movies and the tongue in cheek way the whole story is put together brings a lot of smiles and some very funny laugh out loud moments. There are a lot of films currently available that are nowhere near as funny as this one, although critics ratings often seem to describe them otherwise. Haven'T seen any film critic reviews for this film, but I am sure it would not fit with the stuffy and serious ilk that befits the modern critics seem to think we may like.