HOW TO BE SINGLE (2016) Review
Directed by Christian Ditter
Dakota Johnson, fresh from her first starring role in the controversial romantic erotic film Fifty Shades of Grey joins Rebel Wilson who is know for her role in Pitch Perfect as Fat Amy in the anti-valentine film How To Be Single. Now, anti-Valentine because its title stresses the fun or the perks of singlehood. But the film actually is a Valentine film because it’s far from highlighting the advantages of being single.
The two are joined by Leslie Mann who’s known for her roles in Knocked Up and The 40-Year Old Virgin, she actually has the most interesting storyline out of the four ladies of the film. And lastly, Alison Brie who seems to be the freshest face of the four.
Alice (Johnson) is moving to New York City for her new job and she thought of it as a break from her relationship with Josh (Braun) as she wants to experience the single life or being independent, on her own. So she moved to New York City where her sister Meg (Mann) also works. She meets Robin (Wilson) at the firm she works the two started to bond and immediately like each other to actually be together at parties every night.
The story is thin here, Alice and Robin mostly party and meet guys like Tom (Holm) who works at the bar and hooks up with Alice, Robin pretty much made things clear that she hooks up after every party she’s ever been to. But Alice realizes that she needed Josh in her life, that she doesn’t have any idea at things that Josh’s fixes for her like turning off the Spanish subtitles on her TV. But Josh was seeing another girl already.
Meg attends a party at her sisters office where she meets the young Ken. The two have these cute chemistry even with their age gap. While Johnson and Wilson are having fun, Meg’s story is the most interesting and enjoyable part of the film. It’s the story that you can really and should follow in the film because it wasn’t just a phase that will have nothing to do with its story. It’s disappointing that Mann only has the decent story line and that her story needed to be shared by the other three star’s screen time. Because if not for Meg and Ken’s story, How To Be Single is all in all a waste.
Meg successfully gets pregnant after weeks of trying through artificial insemination but she doesn’t tell Ken about it because it might freak him out and they’re having the time of their lives with each other. But when Ken found out about it, he was thrilled of becoming a father. As impossible as it may seem, Ken tried to be with Meg but Meg pushed him away. Until she gave birth and Alice called him to come and the two confessed their love for each other.
Alice, having dated two guys or at least hooked up with two guys after her break up with Josh finally came to senses that she indeed needed to enjoy being single for now. So she and Robin continued to be friends and cleared their situation and intentions for each other as friends.
Alison Brie on the other hand pops up every now and then, don’t know why but her character doesn’t seem to matter in the story, at all. But she’s fun to watch though.
The film spends its last ten minutes discussing “How to Be Single,” which is what it needed to be most of the time. Rebel Wilson is underused in the film even though the trailer mostly featured her witty jokes and side comments. It’s kind of enjoyable at times especially Leslie Mann’s story line. There’s something genuine in her story that you get to enjoy simply because it’s ideal.
2 OUT OF 5 STARS
“How To Be Single” is now showing in Philippine cinemas from Warner Bros. Pictures. Rated R-16 by the MTRCB.