Rating: R (brief drug use, sexual profanity and language)
Length: 96 minutes
Release Date: December 14, 2012
Directed by: Michael Mohan
Genre: Comedy/Romance
Stars: 2 out of 5
“Save the Date” is a movie that wants to be more than a typical romantic comedy, but writer and director Michael Mohan doesn’t seem to know what kind of story he wants to tell. With good performances from Lizzy Caplan and Alison Brie, the film overcomes this flaw with some action moments and characters that delight twenty-something indie storytellers.
Lizzy Caplan plays Sarah, an aspiring graphic artist who helps manage a Los Angeles bookstore. She strikes up a live-in relationship with a promising indie musician, but immediately breaks up with him, as he publicly proposes to her after his concert. She then enters into a relationship with a man who frequented her library and has a crush on her. Sarah’s own romantic turmoil is contrasted with her sister’s more stable relationship. Beth is busy and seems happy, but also oblivious to her bride’s concerns as the wedding day approaches.
Caplan played a similar character in 2012’s “Bachelorette,” and he thrives on this role. Unfortunately, “Save the Date” is the kind of movie where all the characters tell the audience why Sarah is loved rather than focusing on her actions, which doesn’t give Caplan many opportunities to showcase his character. Caplan and costar Alison Brie, who plays Caplan’s sister Bethlehem, have an easy chemistry that shines on screen. The audience would easily have believed that these two were sisters.
While the film focuses on two women, the three main male characters each have their own roles. Rejected by Sarah’s suitor Kevin, deceived by Geoffrey Arend, he seems gravely inept about the girl he wants to marry. However, facial expressions encourage viewers to feel bad for themselves, even when they disagree with their actions. Although Sara’s boyfriend, played by Mark Webber, has fewer arguments to support his character, he seems to be a nice guy. There is a good scene where both men attend Sarah’s art opening and see how they are portrayed in her cartoons. Bethsan’s fiancé, played by Martin Starr, gives an excellent performance in the scene in which Beth is concerned about Sarah’s treatment.
Michael Mohan worked with Jeffrey Brown and Egan Reich on writing the script for this movie. He has a talent for writing compelling vignettes of archetypal information. In one interesting scene, Sarah reports that she visited the dead job ending to give her more happiness than achievements of many of her roles more inclined to contemporaries Unfortunately, the films from this point on show Sarah’s first solo performance.
The best scene in the film occurs when Sarah comes to Kevin after their breakup. In this movie it is clear that Sarah is someone who is afraid of hurting the feelings of others. However, the virgin realizes that she wants to sacrifice the mental clarity she gained by leaving Kevin, so she follows. from him This scene is one of the best moments of character growth in the movie. It also gives the audience a better sense of Sarah’s initial reaction to Kevin’s proposal.
Despite some outstanding individual scenes, the plot meanders along until it is resolved in the traditional second and third acts. The first act, which really begins with a botched stereotypical plot, is familiar to any romantic comedies. But this initial scene is essential to “Save the Date” as part of the romantic comedy genre. One of the hallmarks of cinema is the homogeneity of the characters. They act and talk in similar ways and have the same problems with tension and lack of awareness. While this uniformity is less awkward and even understandable for a twenty-something, it also extends to Sarah and Beth’s parents. This opportunity fell through because Sarah’s parents were able to provide a new perspective on many of the film’s events.
While the characters may be homogenous, Mohan has an excellent eye for the least used Los Angeles locations. In fact, the boyfriend’s chosen profession as a marine biologist was simply an excuse to shoot a scene in front of the aquarium. Asking cowriter Jeffrey Brown to provide invitations to Sarah’s solo art show is also a spot-on choice.
“Save the Date” is a film with a certain charm, although in some places the promise falls short. The trailer of the movie movie favors other titles such as “Waitress”, “The Public Garden” and “The kids are all right”. , but this movie doesn’t have the crowd-pleasing narrative arc of these movies. However, fans of the popular HBO television show “Girls” and indie films are sure to find moments and characters to love.
Watch the trailer here!
Report:
- movieroomreviews.com/alison-brie
- www.imdb.com/name/nm0135221/
- movieroomreviews.com/reviews/mrr-movie-review- save-date
