Man Up *** (2015, Simon Pegg, Lake Bell, Ophelia Lovibond) – Movie Review

American Lake Bell stars as a 34-year-old single English woman, Nancy, who runs in to Simon Pegg‘s 40-year-old divorcee, Jack, who mistakes her for his 24-year-old blind date Jessica (Ophelia Lovibond). Nancy decides to go with the flow, leading to a comedy of errors and confusion on the unlucky-in-love heroine’s chaotic journey towards finding the perfect boyfriend.

It could easily have been a script for a Bridget Jones movie, and starred Hugh Grant or Colin Firth a couple of years back.

There are quite a lot of laughs and fun to be had in this nice but uneven and contrived romantic comedy. Bell is good, warm and amusing, with a convincing Brit accent, though Pegg is slightly less winsome or funny as the male romantic lead, the appealing Lovibond is wasted and Rory Kinnear not at all funny as an old stalker class mate with a long-standing crush.

Olivia Williams and Stephen Campbell Moore deserve better than their sour, grouchy roles. Ken Stott and Harriet Walter’s bit at the end is all a bit cosy, but nevertheless they are sweet as old Bert and Fran, Nancy’s happily married parents who she’s travelling across London to be with to toast another anniversary.

All the nonsense about taking chances, finding out about being yourself and making decisions and rolling with the consequences is just that – nonsense. We could do with more big laughs and fewer ‘heartwarming’ messages. The end is toe-curling, but it has to finish like this unfortunately, giving yet another fair romcom that same old disappointingly ‘predictable’ and stale ending to send you off with a mechanically contrived feel-good feeling.

It certainly doesn’t hang about and get boring – it’s all done and dusted in a brisk-paced 88 minutes. Writer Tess Morris provides a good setup, some good characters and some good gags, though one more re-write would help. Ben Palmer is the brisk, capable comedy director.

© Derek Winnert 2015 Movie Review

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