It is about how the life of a happy married couple Noel & Audrey changes when Audrey confesses to Noel about her “relationship” with her college roommate Holly. This is followed by a visit of Holly after two decades to meet Audrey. Noel gets to live up a fantasy of his during the visit, but it was not all smooth sailing for the three involved.
I liked the friendship between Noel and his neighbour, the beer chatter and the morning walk gossiping between them were nicely made. Nathalie Emmanuel as Holly holds the film together and keeps the story moving. Though it is an Adult comedy subject, Director Joshua Friedlander has not made it into skin flick, which would’ve been easy.
Check this film if you want to sit back and relax on an evening. Be prepared, there is nothing new or thrilling in the film.
Nathalie Emmanuel as Holly, Josh Lawson as Noel & Britt Lower as Audrey
Superintelligence (2020) is a romantic comedy that is wrapped around a sci-fi premise. I liked the film due to Melissa McCarthy who like from her acting in Mike & Molly (2010) TV show, and then in The Boss (2016) and Spy (2015). At the same time, it may not work for everyone as there was nothing new and the movie was a ‘genie’ type fantasy film than a sci-fi.
Carol Peters (Melissa McCarthy) was a hard-working corporate executive, who is now jobless and looking for a job that can combine work with her interest in helping the needy. In one of the job interviews, she is noticed by a computer system (AI) that has recently become self-aware, after attaining super intelligence, like the often feared (technological) singularity. The AI selects Carol as its test subject to evaluate its course of action: whether to help humans to save the world (or) destroy humanity to save itself. Over a course of three-days a lot of things happen in Carol’s life including the US Government seeking her help in saving the world from the AI.
After encountering the AI, Carol runs to her best friend Dennis who is shown to be working at Microsoft. After the meeting she tries to find her way out, and gets lost with the confusing Exit signs – this has really happened to me quite a few times in the last decades when I used to visit Microsoft campus in Redmond for business meetings. After she leaves, the Microsoft engineers discuss on what to do and that meeting was really funny. When the AI controlled Tesla is speeding, the reaction from the cop holding the speed gun when it shows only 20 miles was amusing. The way the AI system prearranges the designers at the fashion boutique and the manager to her new house, makes the whole thing more believable.
There are some nice moments in the film, like having a female US president character and talking about Governments propogating fake news (solar flairs disrupting the entire power grids across Asia) for saving the world.
In summary, this is a simple comedy that can make you laugh in few places. Nothing more.
Enough Said (2013) starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus is a mature romantic comedy. Eva, a divorcee, is a massage therapist, whose daughter is leaving for the college soon. She starts seeing Albert (James Gandolfini), who is an unlikely partner for her. Eva is fit, beautiful and organized. Whereas Albert is unattractive, obese and unorganized. Eva & Albert start seeing and start liking each other. Unfortunately, at the same time, Eva is serving Albert’s ex-wife Marianne. Things become uncomplicated, to say the least!
This was not a unique story, but the unglamorous and honest treatment by the director Nicole Holofcener makes “Enough Said” to be an entertaining watch. In the climax, we could feel exactly what the two main characters are going through without they speaking a word about it and that was excellent acting by James Gandolfini & Julia Louis-Dreyfus.
James Gandolfini & Julia Louis-Dreyfus – Enough Said (2013)
Maara (2021) stars one of the loved on-screen couples in recent years Tamil cinema (from Vikram Vedha) of Madhavan and Shraddha Srinath. Unfortunately in this film, they are hardly seen together. The first two hours of the film goes uneventful, predictable and if you can endure it, the last 20 minutes featuring the veteran Moulee is a conciliation. The incohesive screenplay feels clumsy if I were to be kind. The film is available on Amazon Prime Video.
The film is about a lady Paru (Shraddha) who is going around in search of an artist named Maara (Madhavan) who has painted an uncommon story she has heard in her childhood. For such a story the screenplay should be of suspense, which was absent here. Just like Ajith is obsessed with his salt-n-pepper look, Madhavan seems to be too – I prefer Madhavan to appear smart or gracefully old, but not in between. Throughout the film, Shraddha Srinath either walks around or is listening to people tell stories. Sshivada (aka Shivada Nair as per Prime X-Ray) who gave a brilliant performance in Adhe Kangal (2017) has got a limited role which she has done well.
I might’ve enjoyed the Malayalam film Charlie (2015) on which Maara is based. Here, the scene jumps from one to another abruptly all through the film. The producer should be thanking OTT platforms, the movie would’ve flopped with a box office release.
Office Romance (Sluzhebnyy roman) is a Russian Romantic Comedy from the 1970s. Watching the film feels like a time travel to Moscow of the Soviet era. Director Eldar Ryazanov has taken the familiar story of workplace love between a boss and subordinate and delivered a masterpiece by being honest to the characters portrayed and the society around them. A must-watch film that’s available for free on YouTube (Part 1 and Part 2).
The entire story happens in the statistics bureau in Moscow. The film starts with workers arriving at the office through various modes of transport. We get introduced to the main characters through narration by the protagonist Anatoly Novoseltsev, a clerk who is hardworking and wishes for bigger roles but is afraid to ask the boss Ludmila Kalugina. Ludmila is a demanding manager and a terror in the office. How Anatoly and Ludmila start talking to each other and then to fall in love is the story.
Andrey Myagkov brings to live the character of Anatoly, a shy and sincere single father. Similarly, Alisa Freindlich as played the role of Ludmila very well. They are sincere to the roles, not over-acting or being artificial anywhere.
The other workers in the office provide the humour that’s peculiar to the times and to the soviet era.
Alisa Freindlich and Andrey Myagkov – Office Romance (Служебный роман)
Passengers (2016) was more of a romantic film told in a sci-fi plot. In a distant future, 5000+ passengers and crew are on hibernation for 120 years on a space ship called Avalon travelling to a new colony planet. After 30 years, due to a meteor hit one passenger alone wakes up with no one else awake to help him. An intriguing plot that Director Morten Tyldum had handled differently from the treatment this genre normally gets, I liked it, but fans will be disappointed as there was little space action or any new imagination. The film is available on Netflix.
Due to the hibernation pod misfunction Jim Preston (Chris Pratt) wakes up to find that he is only awake and there are ninety more years to reach the destination, by then he is likely to be dead. He spends the next year, with a luxury ship all to himself and gets bored very soon. Being a mechanic, he starts building stuff. Did he reach the destination, did he meet anyone else, did he fix the problem in the ship is the story.
Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Pratt make a lovely pair in the film, there acting saves the film from being dull and mostly uneventful. The film does remind me of a miniseries called Ascension (2014) where 3 generations are travelling to a distant galaxy to save humanity and of Orbiter 9 (2017). The Avalon spacecraft in this film, its exteriors and interiors were looking very nice, borrowing from the classic 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968).
How to make a teenage romance between a boy and a girl living in a small town in America interesting? You bring in a twist. The Map of Tiny Perfect Things (2021) that premiered today in Amazon Prime Video does this by introducing a time loop that keeps the same-day repeat over and over but only for the two. I liked the film but given the plot and good casting, it could’ve been a lot better.
Mark (Kyle Allen) is a 17-year old who is studying science, but wishes to do art school finds himself waking up to the same day, with exactly the same set of events happening over and over. Other than him, no one else remembers anything from the previous (or should we say the same) day. Luckily, he meets a girl Margaret (Kathryn Newton) who is going through the same issue. Did they get together and did they come out of the time loop is the story.
Since the two have witnessed many times the same happenings of the day, they become perfect in anticipating and handling it. The way Mark makes his breakfast or catches the cup falling from the table or saving a girl from falling into the pool, there was elegance in the movements – fine choreography. Both the leads actors have done their roles well, they make us feel sad for them, for the impossible situation they are in. I like movies that feature small-towns and this one too has its appeal. Other than a couple of dialogues there is little science-fiction in the film, it is mostly a romantic-comedy in a good way.
Palm Springs (2020) is a romantic comedy that involves a time loop, with the same day repeating for the lead couple played by Andy Samberg from Brooklyn Nine-Nine, and Cristin Milioti from How I met your mother? It was fun to watch.
For a wedding of her best friend, Misty and her boyfriend Nyles (Andy Samberg) goes to a resort in Palm Springs. There Nyles gets stuck for unknown reasons in a time loop with the wedding day keeps happening over and over for no reasons and it affects only him. Soon he is joined by the bride’s sister Sarah (Cristin Milioti). Just like in a recent film The Map of Tiny Perfect Things (2021) featuring a time loop, Palm Springs too is about the love that develops between the couple, it talks nothing about why this phenomenon happens.
For a film like this to work, the lead actors have to exhibit their helplessness which Andy Samberg and Cristin Milioti have done well.
Cristin Milioti and Andy Samberg in Palm Springs (2020)
Namaste Wahala (2021) is a Nigerian rom-com in English that is about an inter-racial couple (Indian and Nigerian) falling in love and the hurdles they face from their families to get together. The film was made by Indian-Nigerian filmmaker Hamisha Daryani Ahuja as her debut attempt, and she has got it right. Though there is nothing new in the plot, I am bumping up my rating for the film to “Ripe” for the novelty of the location (Nigeria) and showing Indian-African cultural ties – I would love to see more Asian-African films. Available on Netflix.
Raj (Ruslaan Mumtaz) is a young and smart Indian investment banker working in Nigeria. One day he meets a charming lady Didi (Ini Dima-Okojie), a lawyer and they both fall in love. As expected there is resistance from Raj’s mother and Didi’s father for the couple to get married – did it get resolved forms the story.
The film has strong female characters, which I appreciate a lot. The heroine character Didi is shown to be brave against odds, not the one who gives up when faced with adversity. Apart from the couple getting together, there is a subplot of a harassment case involving the father and daughter tussling it in the board room for their respective clients – this could’ve been more engaging had some courtroom drama was included. The dialogues between the two mothers when they meet for the first time were simple and felt natural.
If you want to write the screenplay for a romantic comedy in a few minutes, it will result like Standby (2014). Starring Jessica Paré of Mad Men fame and Brian Gleeson the film is typical with no twists or turns, yet was watchable due to decent acting and the location of Dublin, Ireland, a lesser-seen city. The film is available on Kanopy.
Alan is a part-time musician, works at the tourist information center of Dublin Airport, and single. One day he meets Alice, who is his first love while he was a student in the USA, the two are meeting after a gap of eight years. Alice is in transit, has the night to kill, and Alan promises to show her around Dublin. How do they spend the evening and did they get-together is the story?
You see the familiar way of spending an evening – drinking at one bar after another – attending a party thrown by youngsters and smoking – going to a building’s terrace and seeing the night view of the city – dancing at a stranger’s wedding – and so on. I was disappointed there was nothing new.
Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands (1976) is one of the most successful (Portuguese) films in Brazil, which got nominated to Golden Globes as well. The film happens in the 1940s, and it follows Dona Flor, her first husband who dies prematurely, and her second marriage. It is available on the Kanopy streaming service and gets a MangoIdiots rating of “Ripe”.
Dona Flor is from a middle-class family who is married to Vadinho, a jobless, flamboyant, alcoholic, gambler, and womanizer. Though Vadinho beats Dona for money and embarrasses her socially, she loves Vadinho as he was a great lover. Unfortunately, Vadinho drops dead during a street carnival turning Dona a widow. On one hand, Dona feels relieved to escape the harassment from her former husband but misses their intimacy. Being attractive and talented, soon Dona gets married again – her second husband is a local pharmacist Teodoro, who is much older than her but leading a disciplined life and is respected in the community Teodoro is a contrast to Vadinho. In this scenario, Vadinho appears in spirit form, being visible only to Dona, and starts living with the couple – giving the film its name.
The success of the film by Director Bruno Barreto is its ability to bring to life the small community of 1940s Brazil, the dynamics of Dona and Vadinho; and later Dona and Teodoro. As the audience, we are made to feel as if we were their neighbors watching them all along. Budding film-makers should check out this film to learn good storytelling.
Teodoro (Mauro Mendonça) and Dona Flor (Sônia Braga)
Mundina Nildana (2019) is a Kannada romantic film. It is about the flashback of a famous photographer “Partha”, who recalls his past relationships – involving rejection and being rejected. A predictable and familiar storyline offering little out of ordinary, yet managing to keep you watching. A Mangoidiots rating of “Raw”. It is available on Netflix.
Partha Srivastav (Praveen Tej) is a renowned photographer who is being interviewed by a reporter about his life, Partha starts with the story of his first love with a bold lady Meera (Radhika Chetan), the reasons for the breakup, and how he fell in love with a young lady Ahana (Ananya Kashyap) before that relationship falling apart.
The screenplay includes the familiar items expected in this genre – a close friend (Eka) who stands with Partha come what may – a traumatic past for the protagonist that makes him hate commitment – the hospitalization of an important character that generates sympathy. A watchable film for an evening.
If I tell you a film that was made 75 years ago, that too, a spy drama will be a fantastic watch even today, you will find it hard to believe. But, it certainly was how I felt when I watched Alfred Hitchcock‘s Notorious (1946) – the movie kept me thoroughly engaged – every frame remains relevant and hasn’t got outdated – a timeless classic of the genre.
Immediately after World War II, in 1946, a wealthy American is convicted as a Nazi spy and his daughter feels abandoned. Noticing that she unlike her father is a patriot, an American intelligence agency recruits her to infiltrate a German secret mission that’s suspected to be happening in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. As an untrained spy did she succeed in her mission is the story, told in parallel with the love she feels for the agent T.R.Devlin who recruits her. The climax scene was brilliant and is a textbook definition of how it should be made for this genre.
There are volumes said about Mr Hitchcock’s works, this film impressed me by being the perfect length for the story, not even a single frame was unnecessary or left out. Cary Grant as an American Agent T.R.Devlin and Ingrid Bergman as an amateur spy for the agency were perfect for the roles. Ingrid Bergman was gorgeous and I will love to see the film in colour just to see her!
If we look even casually at spy movies that were made ever since this one, we can easily see numerous incidents of inspiration from this film and that’s the tribute filmmakers worldwide pay to Mr Hitchcock. I could immediately think of Raazi (2018) that was made a few years ago in Bollywood. Please share the names of the ones (in any language) you can think of in the comments below.
I may probably be the last person in his forties to have watched Bridget Jones’s Diary (2001) for the first time in 2021. In the past, I have often heard about this romantic comedy which has been called a cult classic and a British culture icon by Wikipedia. The film stars Renée Zellweger, Colin Firth and Hugh Grant. The movie is available on both Netflix and Amazon Prime Video and you can’t miss it.
In her 30s and sadly single, Bridget Jones (Renée Zellweger) is working in a dead-end job as public relations officer in a London publishing firm. To get over her loneliness and hopelessness Bridget starts writing a journal. One year, the journal gets entries about two gentlemen who fall head over heels for her. The gentlemen are a childhood family friend and now a barrister Mark Darcy played by Colin Firth and Bridget’s boss Daniel Cleaver played by Hugh Grant.
As seen in many Hollywood sitcoms, the story is an extremely familiar and worn-out one. What makes Bridget Jones stand out was the relatable screenplay, fine direction by Sharon Maguire and the chemistry between the three lead actors. The relationship between Bridget and her friends and the affection of her (a bit eccentric) parents are the strength to Ms Jones to get through her life. The songs in the film were placed at appropriate locations and they added the right emotions to the story.
Check out this heartwarming film which comes with a dollop of British humour.
Bridget Jones 2001 – Renée Zellweger, Colin Firth and Hugh Grant
Crazy About Her (Spanish: Loco por ella) is a Spanish romantic comedy. It takes the familiar story of a guy meeting a girl for a one-night stand but unwittingly falling in love with her and goes in search to win her. In this case, the girl is a resident of a psychology wellness centre – and that’s where a good chunk of the story happens. It starts off as usual but as it progresses it turned out to be entertaining. Gets a Mangoidiots rating of ‘Raw’. Available on Netflix.
The lead pair Álvaro Cervantes as Adri and Susana Abaitua as Carla have done their roles well, they made the movie enjoyable. They got good support from the screenplay. The drawback for the film was that the events could be easily predictable with little left to the imagination or a twist. The wellness institute’s director is shown to be a nice and caring lady unlike the usual rough and heartless people who are shown in that role. The film takes a dig at the growing fad of reporters being asked to write click baits over well-thought-out articles.
Álvaro Cervantes as Adri and Susana Abaitua as Carla
Many artists around the world, in many languages, have written heart-wrenching stories about women getting into (not those who are trafficked) the oldest profession due to utter despair in order to earn a living and save their loved ones. Alice (2019), an award-winning French film is a modern-day, realistic version of this. The film was not about being sensual, but about the hardships and struggles faced by Alice, the Protoganist who was a loving and caring wife being cheated by her husband both financially and in their marriage. It is available on Kanopy.
Married to a hard-working manager in a firm who is also a writer, Alice with a young boy was leading a happy life. One day the world around her comes crashing down, when she realises her credit card and bank accounts have no money in them – they have been emptied along with the money borrowed on their house by her husband François. Her husband becomes unreachable and with no help coming from her parents, Alice is left to raise a ton of money in a very short period of time. Alice gets into a work that no women will prefer to do and in the process find her life-changing forever.
Emilie Piponnier has lived the life of Alice Ferrand effortlessly, kudos to her. In the first fifteen minutes itself, we start rooting for her. Chloé Boreham plays the character of Alice’s friend, though this was a cookie-cutter role she makes it enjoyable. I liked the climax, which was fresh, and for that and a good screenplay, the film gets a rating of ‘Ripe’.
In Family I Trust (2019) is a Spanish romantic comedy that is available on Netflix. The familiar story of a lady professional getting heartbroken returning to her hometown to be with her loving family has been told warmly by Director Patricia Font. It was a fun movie to watch and gets a mangoidiots rating of ‘Raw’.
Life has been going good for the young Bea, a steady boyfriend who has recently asked her to marry him, and a successful architect career. Then she discovers he had cheated on her. In a bit of rage, she gets herself fired and comes to her mother living in a small town. Her mother is a healer, who keeps the crazy yet loving family together. Her eldest sister is the local mayor wants to do good to the town but faces stiff resistance and she is getting burned out. Her second sister, happily married and blessed with a newborn is hiding a shame. The family stays together in getting through their troubles and Bea finding her true love is the story.
I liked the way the screenplay takes head-on critical relationship issues, instead of dragging them for long. The small town that was featured was lovely. The gorgeous Clara Lago comes as Bea, the protagonist and has given a lively performance just she did in Orbiter 9.
In Family I Trust (Spanish: Gente que viene y bah)
Well Done Baby (2021) is a Marathi language romantic comedy covering the dynamics between a newlywed couple that is complicated with the wife’s mother living with them. The film has no villains or any cinematic happenings. It impresses us with its relatable script authenticity and in its portrayal of the lead couple. It is available on Amazon Prime Video and gets a Mangoidiots rating of ‘Raw’.
Pushkar Jog as Aditya and Amruta Khanvilkar as Meera come out as a typical young couple living in London. Vandana Gupte as the nosy mother-in-law stands out in her performance adding humour to the film.
Aditya and Meera are ambitious in their respective careers and try to project their expectations and disappointments on to the other. This fuels anger. They do love each other but their individuality gets in their way to forgive each other and Meera’s mother who has been living with them is not helping either. The second half of the film was about the couple going to prenatal classes, yoga sessions, and Hypnobirth programs. While the interactions between the couple were enjoyable, the classes got covered more than they should for a non-documentary and that made it a bit tiring.
Pushkar Jog as Aditya and Amruta Khanvilkar as Meera
Vanakkam Da Mappilei (2021) is a Tamil romantic comedy starring G.V. Prakash Kumar and Amrtiha Aiyer. The easiest way to describe this film will be: Director M Rajesh has made an anthology of three stories in one film with the same characters. At a running time of 165 minutes, it was too long, incoherent and featuring humour in a few places that save it from being a total disaster. It gets a mangoidiots rating of ‘Raw’ and is available on Sun NXT.
Aravind (GV) is a marine engineer who has returned home for a six-month stay. He has made a pact with his close friend Swamy (played by Daniel Pope) in college that they both will get married on the same day and in the same stage. To make good on the promise he wants to find a bride soon and in an encounter facilitated by his mother (played well by Pragathi) which was typical of Director Rajesh‘s film he meets Thulasi (Amritha Iyer) and it was love at first sight. Then follows Aravind getting Thulasi to fall in love with him, why Thulasi’s father Ram (Anandraj) agrees to the wedding, what makes Aravind’s tough-love father Natraj (Jayaprakash) fall in line, how Swamy’s life gets messed up by Aravind and so on. If I could’ve bet money on how each scene will turn out in advance, I would’ve made a fortune.
The two female leads Amritha Iyer and Pragathi have the audience impressed with their effortless and convincing acting in an otherwise bland film. Kudos to them. For his own good, GV should stop doing the next door lover boy characters, he is becoming old for those characters. For the tough father character, Jayaprakash seems to be completely out of place. Daniel Pope has got good screentime which he has used well. Anandraj‘s character was tasteless, to say the least. Lastly, there is too much promotion of ‘Alcohol’ drinking just like in previous GV or Rajesh‘s films.
You Me Her is a romantic drama TV series that is available on Netflix outside of the US & Canada. It is about a childless married couple Jack & Emma living in suburban Portland inviting a third person Izzy into their marriage to form a polyamorous relationship. The description and the initial episodes were certainly sensuous but as the seasons progressed the series transformed itself into one that explored love and relationships.
Jack is a student counsellor and Emma a successful architect living in a posh suburb of Portland, Oregon. After many years of trying, they are unable to conceive a baby. By the turn of events, they both fall in love with a graduate student of psychology Isabelle (Izzy) Silva. The three form a consensual relationship and start living together. Then follows the stigma and opposition from the community and friends. After some time the unconventional relationship causes tension between the trouple. Did it get resolved, do they stay together is narrated across five seasons.
American writers seem to like portraying the lead characters to be having a troubled relationship with their parents or come from broken families. I suppose it makes the characters multi-layered and interesting from a story-telling perspective. Just like most of the neighbourhood shows, Yes Me Her too has the standard ones like a Nosy neighbour, insightful teenagers, a BFF couple, Gay couple and so on.
The four main actors Greg Poehler as Jack Trakarsky, Rachel Blanchard as Emma Trakarsky, Priscilla Faia as Izzy and Melanie Papalia as Nina Martone have given memorable performances. Priscilla and Melanie have been outstanding – the sequences where they stand up for each other as their best friend were well written and acted.
I got bored after the first few episodes but ploughing through the first season and the second, I got hooked as the series started being well written. The first season was spent setting the stage and characters. The second was how the trouple overcome the pressures from the society and announce their relationship. The next three seasons were about Jack, Emmy & Izzy individually getting a cold-feet on their ‘complex’ relationship and running away from the other two. In between we see the love life of the side characters like Nina, the best friend to Izzy; the sudden success of Dave, the best friend of Jack; the troubled relationship Izzy has with her father; the hatred Jack has towards his mom and so on being explored. In many of the TV series, the peripheral characters are never explored in detail, here some of them like Izzy’s father get substantial treatment and I liked it.
Remember, the series is not for the young audience, it obviously features Adult content, a lot of drinking, and smoking substances.
Holly Slept Over (2020) is an adult comedy film that is available on Amazon Prime Video.
