It’s a bit of a faux pas for a bloke to talk about romantic comedies, but the movie adaptation of David Nicholls’ bestselling book One Day hits the cinema this autumn. Unfortunately, I’m expecting it to arrive with a whimper, not a bang, as I’ve seen the movie trailer and have concluded it looks like it’s going to be complete shite. It’d be a real shame if I’m correct, because I read the book last year and I can confirm it’s utterly superb, so I’m pretty disappointed at how awful the trailer looks.
One Day tells the tale of Emma and Dexter, a couple of university students who spend one night together in 1988 but don’t become romantically involved, but each chapter in the book is set one year to the day on which the book starts and shows how their lives and friendships progress over time. Of course, they’re sort of in love, in an unrequieted way, but the dialogue is funny, witty, dry, but laced with a kind of bittersweet fatalism akin to a Thomas Hardy novel. The ending, in particular, was like a sledgehammer to the head upon reading it.
One Day is definitely one of those must-read books I’d recommend to anyone: it’s not chick-lit, that’s for sure, it’s more in the vein of Nick Hornby. It’s a humorous but deeply affecting novel, with well-drawn characters and just the right blend of emotional weight in the mix. When I heard they were making One Day into a movie, casting Anne Hathaway and Jim Sturgess in the lead roles, I was hopeful it might be one of the few rom-coms actually worth watching. The problem is it looks like they decided to lump One Day into a ‘chick flick’ genre, which is why the trailer left me so cold.
Chick flicks aren’t exactly known for appealing to men as a target demographic – all they do is lay on the schmaltz and add a dash of awkward, bumbling charm (ahem, Hugh Grant) or over-egg the overt sentimentality and wait for the box office receipts to tumble in. The thing is, most romantic comedies are shit. There’s no denying it. Of course, I’m a man, so I’m probably biased, but there are a few exceptions to the rule:
When Harry Met Sally – which possibly could’ve been One Day‘s closest cinematic forebear – had a superbly written script and offered a refreshing take on the rom-com formula, directed masterfully by Rob Reiner and utilizing the twin talents of comedian Billy Crystal and cappuccino-loving orgazmatron Meg Ryan. To this day, When Harry Met Sally is the one rom-com I can sit through without being physically sick. It has an endearing quality, as does Richard Curtis’s early work (Four Weddings, Notting Hill) to a certain extent, but even Curtis descended into vomit-inducing indulgence with the abominable Love Actually.
Recently, 500 Days of Summer – starring Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Gordon-Levitt – restored my faith in the rom-com with its offbeat humour and nonlinear narrative. It breathed new life into the genre, proving that rom-coms can be enjoyable if handled correctly with a bit of originality, so I assumed that One Day might follow in its footsteps. So, what went wrong with One Day? How can a good book be seemingly ruined in its transition to the big screen? Well, you be the judge. Here’s the trailer:
Having read the book, I’ll tell you why I think One Day looks rubbish. For one thing, David Nicholls – who not only wrote the novel, but also acts as screenwriter – had to shoehorn the story into traditional rom-com generic conventions, whereas the novel is anything but generic. The novel was dynamic, deftly juggling humour and pathos in a way which didn’t insult the reader’s intelligence, but this film trailer looks like the story’s been weighted too much in favour of corny, doe-eyed drama. Where’s the comedy? There was not one laugh in that trailer. All that came across was all the usual ‘chick flick’ platitudes that makes me regurgitate yesterday’s breakfast.
Trust me, I hope I’m proved wrong, as the book was brilliant, and One Day is directed by Dogme 95 filmmaker Lone Scherfig (An Education) who has some critical kudos under her belt, but that trailer just makes the movie look sub-standard to me. Remember, I’ve read the book – and this trailer just doesn’t feel like how I imagined it’d look in my head, that’s all. I’d sooner watch a book burning than go to the cinema and watch that pile of crap.
SquabbleBox.co.uk - Entertainment Under Attack 