"Better a fallen rocket than never a burst of light."
~ Tom Stoppard, The Invention of Love

Sunday, November 10, 2013

Unhitched (2005, R)

 
Unhitched (renamed for its U.S. release – it’s originally titled The Best Man) tells a pretty different story from What Rats Won’t Do, but it reminds me a lot of that film.  Both are highly formulaic romantic comedies without many creative bones in their bodies.  While each falls into a different rom-com subset, they’re both textbook examples of their type.
 
What Rats Won’t Do sticks with the tried-and-true “opposites attract” story, where the woman with the dull fiancée realizes her love/hate relationship with a colleague is a lot more love than hate, and the playboy is finally tamed by the Power of Love.  Unhitched instead goes for a “love at first sight” story, where the perfect woman is engaged to a horrendous tool, but the guy who loves her is just too darned nice to pursue her until he realizes how awful her fiancée is.  Stop me if you’ve heard this one… 
 
Olly, a struggling writer, is the awkward nice guy, and Sarah, a sweet lady who screens films to focus groups, is the perfect woman.  Naturally, they meet and Olly falls for her before he knows that she’s marrying his old friend James, and of course, Olly has already agreed to be the best man at the wedding.  Olly tries to leave Sarah alone, but his roommate sets out to galvanize Olly by proving that James isn’t good enough for Sarah.
 
Another big difference between this film and What Rats Won’t Do is that PC has a lot less screen time.  He shows up near the end as the priest for the wedding.  He’s only in a few scenes, so there’s not too much to say.  His exasperation at all the rom-com hijinks that keep interrupting the proceedings is funny, but… eh.  This is probably one of the films that made PC consider giving up acting before he scored the part of Malcolm Tucker.
 
A few faces I’ve seen recently – Stuart Townsend, one of the leads from Shooting Fish, plays Olly, and Anna Chancellor (the unfortunate object of Pilfrey’s affections in Fortysomething) has a supporting role as his boss.  In bit parts, you’ll also see Whoniverse alumni Simon Callow (Charles Dickens in “The Unquiet Dead”,) Burn Gorman (Owen from Torchwood,) Daniel Mays (the father from “Night Terrors” in series 6,) and Tom Ellis (Martha’s cute doctor chum from The Year That Never Was.)  Seriously, did the TARDIS double as everyone’s trailer?
 
Accent Watch
 
Sounds Scottish to me.
 
Recommend?
 
In General – Not in my opinion.  Too predictable, too cheesy.
 
PC-wise – For completists only.
 
Warnings
 
Some language and sexual references, including porn and an “adult” shop.

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