I’ve seen so many movies over the years that when a rom-com comes along with a meet-cute that isn’t the least bit cute to me…I cringe. So I was thrilled to see that Raine Allen-Miller, in her feature debut (she was formerly in advertising), gave us a story that keeps you smiling the entire time even despite a few tropes. Such colorful and creative ways were found to shoot this movie, which is like Before Sunrise in South London, around Peckham and Brixton. (I would have liked to have heard The Clash song Guns of Brixton, but I’ll gladly take their use of Buggin’ Out by A Tribe Called Quest). Oh, and the karaoke version of Shoop (Salt-N-Pepa) is just hysterical. But back to the review.
There were bright colors, interesting wide-angle shots, and lots of clever touches by Allen-Miller.
The meet-cute isn’t so cute, as it’s in a bathroom (or loo, as the Brits would call it). There’s some weird stuff going on in there, one being a man named Dom (David Jonsson from HBO’s Industry). He’s crying after a bad break-up. Yas (Vivian Oparah from Teen Spirit) hears him, and they eventually keep the conversation going in an art gallery (which has some mouths that put Mick Jagger to shame). She isn’t in a relationship, so you get the feeling you know where things are headed. He’s an accountant who’s a bit shy. She’s a costume designer who’s outspoken, and rather funny. There’s an early scene where Dom confesses that he’s going to meet his ex (Karene Peter), who cheated on him with his best friend Eric (Benjamin Sarprong-Broni). It made no sense that Eric is as dumb as he is, or that Dom is even putting up with what they’re putting him through. It’s something you would see in a bad sitcom. Yet when Yas makes a surprise visit, it livens things up and you end up enjoying the scene. The second they walk out of that restaurant, you realize just how great their chemistry is. And their rapport is so clever, and the writing of this script is very funny.
Aside from thinking of Before Sunrise, you’ll also think of Love, Actually. Especially with a Mexican restaurant called Love Guac’tually.
Then the story shifts to Yas’ attempt at revenge on her ex. You see, he kept her “The Low End Theory” album by A Tribe Called Quest. Again, that scene gets a bit sitcom-y when they break into his flat, but it’s also got enough zingers that you don’t mind.
There were a handful of scenes so funny I had tears rolling down my face. One of them is a description of a romantic gesture of leaving chocolates on the bed, and how it turned disastrous.
Another involves a mic that’s held out for the crowd to sing along, and they don’t.
It was also refreshing that these weren’t the two best looking people in the world, but still kind of cute. His expressions reminded me of Arsenio Hall in Coming to America. She reminded me of a combination of Serena Williams and Issa Rae. Yet you just adore them together and want things to work.
Cinematographer Karene Peter shot with some interesting angles, giving the film a Wes Anderson feel.
I thought the musical score was annoying, and I didn’t need yet another movie with barfing (it’s now up to 83.7% of all movies having a character throw up – I’m keeping track).
This gets 3 ½ stars out of 5, and is less than an hour and half. You can catch it on Hulu starting March 31st.