-
Standby (2014)
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,…
-
Namaste Wahala (2021)
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…
-
Palm Springs (2020)
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…
-
The Map of Tiny Perfect Things (2021)
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…
-
Passengers (2016)
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…
-
Office Romance (1977)
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,…
-
Maara (2021)
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…
-
Enough Said (2013)
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…
