aprilsfriendorin

Right off the bat, you can tell this show is a very specific style of comedy- one where it relies on absurdist humor, awkwardness, and pure ridiculousness to engage the audience. It reminded me of Nathan Fielder's shows (which I generally love). Unfortunately, it fails to maintain its momentum throughout the series.

The first half, while very silly, still has a content plot/mystery to follow. This eventually fades to give way to 100% ridiculousness. No semblance of a plot or a story to follow- just craziness every single episode. As someone who enjoys absurdist humor, it became too much for me. When every single second is someone acting over the top stupid, it quickly loses its charm.

People are saying it's a genius show that acts crazy on purpose, but I think they just love Tim Robinson. If you're obsessed with him and can laugh for hours at him making stupid faces, then sure, maybe you'll love this. But if you're looking for an actually good show, you'll probably only like the first half.

This movie tries to be too many things at once. The result? It ends up being nothing at all.

For starters, it's not a romcom, even though it's marketed as once. There's barely any comedy, the characters are not very compelling, there's not much chemistry or really much of anything. It's more of a commentary on modern day dating. Think a realistic "drama" that isn't overtly serious but still tries to convey serious messages.

Now I'm against this type of movie, but for it to work it has to go all in and be grounded in realism. This movie failed in that respect- it tried to be this serious commentary, but it also borrowed tropes from classic romcoms. It touches upon the realistic issues of romantic fantasies, and how practical factors can disrupt romances, but then it falls into the fantasy element.

It could've been an insightful analysis or a fun romcom. Instead it's a hybrid- a bunch of people talking about their problems, acknowledging those problems are serious, and then ignoring them in the name of "romance."

Also stop pairing older men with younger women all the time. The movie even makes a joke about age standards for men/women, yet falls into the same trap. Pedro Pascal's character is meant to be older, but Chris Evans & Dakota Johnson's characters were supposed to be the same age.