How to be Single | Review

I’m not sure if anyone has caught on, what with all the single girl talk happening on here and on my channel, but I have just come out of a pretty big break up. And shockingly enough, this hot mess of a movie was the only I’ve watched (out of 20 odd rom coms) that really resonated with me. How to be Single tells the story of Alice, played by Dakota Johnson, a 20-something recent college graduate who puts her long-term relationship on hold to explore singledom in the big city. Alice, who has spent most of her formative years being entirely codependent on her partner, played by dreamy Nicholas Braun, struggles with her newfound independence. She relies heavily on the support of her older sister, an OBGYN played by Leslie Mann, as well as her party-girl coworker, played Rebel Wilson. There are several other overlapping plotlines, as apparently, every rom com since Love Actually is want to do. Leslie Mann has decided to raise a baby on her own via in vitro, Alison Brie has gone completely insane as a 30-something childless, unmarried woman. Anders Holm is a reformed philanderer. And Damon Wayans Jr. is grappling with the death of his wife, and the prospect of raising his daughter all on his own - very out of place in an otherwise light movie, but his moments were touching.

The bad: How to be Single has no idea what it wants to be. In one breath it's a poignant coming-of-age story about a girl who must find her identity after losing it to love. In another it's a party romp where all our characters wear sparkly dresses, get plastered, and listen to dubstep. The main cause of this tonal conflict is Rebel Wilson. I wish someone would find something better for Rebel Wilson to do with her talents, because in every movie I’ve seen her in since Bridesmaids she’s served as little more than an irritating appendage. You could wipe her character out of this plot entirely and the movie would be stronger for it. It’s as if the directors were insecure with the touching coming-of-age story they had created, and shoehorned in a slapstick plot to overcompensate. My other theory is that the studios would not approve of the movie if it did not have Wilson in it. Both theories are viable. I’ve also been noticing a phenomenon in contemporary comedies where, rather than using a score to set a distinctive ambiance/atmosphere, they will instead blast any generic pop song over every single scene. The songs usually spell out exactly what the characters are feeling or doing. The most bizarre moment of all is when Alice and Anders Holm are about to hook up, and as they begin to kiss, we’re treated to the musical stylings of Baauer. The “Harlem Shake”, the song was “The Harlem Shake”.

The good: While this film is tonally all over the place, and at times very meandering (the editor was generous to say the least), I think it deserves more praise than it received. Despite its heavyweight cast, How to be Single went virtually unnoticed. I think this is a result of poor marketing - from the garish posters, to the generic trailer, someone really did this movie dirty. I think if the writers had more faith in their audience, stuck to the core coming-of-age story, and didn’t try to pack this film with so many distractions, it would’ve been a hit. As someone who has undergone an eerily similar breakup to Alice (we both spent most of our twenties taking care of each other, and losing our independence), I was surprised at how much nuance and insight this movie brought to my experience. I think we need more coming-of-age stories about people in their twenties, because I am personally still very much trying to figure out who I am! Everyone should learn to be comfortable with being alone, and How to be Single tackles this idea quite gracefully. This does not mean that we should never depend on others - in one scene, Alice crawls into her sister's bed at night and tells her that she needs her sometimes. And we get the idea that there are other forms of support to lean on. It’s all about balance!

All in all, How to be Single had a lot of potential, but it was squandered by writers who, ignoring their own advice, did not have enough confidence in their material to let it stand on its own.