Movie of the Week: Man Up

Alexa: I’m a sucker for British romantic comedies no matter how ridiculous, and Man Up is no exception. Objectively it’s pretty middle-of-the-road as far as rom-coms go. It’s certainly not the worst I’ve seen – its two delightful leads alone are enough to ensure that – but it doesn’t offer anything that elevates it beyond your cookie-cutter expectations of the genre. In other words, it’s the perfect Netflix movie for a night in after a long week and all you want is a bit of cheese. Simon Pegg and Lake Bell have great chemistry and ooze charm, even when their characters make questionable choices. They’re likable despite their many flaws, which make them all the more relatable. You do have to look past some tropes that would be alarming in any other context to truly enjoy it. An unnecessary subplot involves a former high school classmate/stalker of Bell’s Nancy that we’re supposed to find laughable rather than just plain creepy. And even the story’s central meet cute, which involves Pegg’s Jack mistaking Nancy for his blind date and Nancy just rolling with it instead of correcting him, requires us to accept Nancy’s actions as just cute and impulsive enough to avoid reaching unforgivable levels of crazy. But after all, romantic comedies are fantasies in a sense, and some suspension of disbelief is required. Not everything has to be a masterpiece, and I could easily see myself revisiting Man Up when I need a sweet, romantic pick-me-up.

Joel: Shortly after I graduated from college, I had a job at a coffee shop near the campus. It was a popular place in the area and for that reason, it was frequently the spot for blind date meetups or first dates from internet dating sites. This meant that on several occasions I was forced to watch two people try desperately to pull a good first date out of an awkward one, usually only succeeding in making the whole thing even more awkward. Not only for them, but for me, stuck behind the counter unable to avoid hearing the whole thing crashing and burning.

The first half hour of this movie is like being back at that job, having to watch one of those awkward first dates. Lake Bell seems determined to be unpleasant to anyone and everyone that will talk to her. Simon Pegg, usually a very charismatic actor, seems to be stuck in more of a David Brent/Michael Scott character that causes you to cringe at almost every line. I understand that’s what the movie is going for here, that cringe comedy feel, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it was pulled off well.

Then about half an hour into the movie the whole thing abruptly changes. It almost feels like the movie realizes it can keep up the same gimmick for the full length of the movie and it switches tactics. It’s a good thing it does, because the movie improves almost at once Within the span of a single scene, the character go from awkward and grating, to funny and likable. The chemistry between the two leads instantly improves and we get a movie that’s not so much a first date movie, but one where two people are stuck together for a while and have to make the best of it. The second part is a great movie and one I can easily recommend, it’s just a shame that the first third of the movie puts the whole thing in such a deep hole that the movie has to spend the rest of its run time climbing out of. In the end, there’s enough positive here to make it a good movie, it’s just a shame that you have to make it through that first half hour.  

Chris: I'll echo Joel's relief over this movie's decision to not keep the mistaken identity gag going through the entire movie as it would make the viewing experience much more exhausting. I do like the variations of the same mindset from Simon Pegg's character. As Joel mentioned, Jack was very awkward and nervous because he had such high hopes for this blind date and was ready to fully dive into the possibilities of it and after the revelation was made, he goes off the deep end in anger because of those extremely high hopes and his willingness to be vulnerable. And I love Lake Bell, I do, but I'm not a huge fan of her English accent. I'll concede that it was better than most American attempts at it and she was the perfect choice for this role but that's my lone complaint about her character. However, I have complaints in other aspects. The creepy stalker bowling alley guy was just too much and seemed like he was actively trying to hijack every scene he was in and me being a grumpy old man, was annoyed by this. And finally there's Jessica. You got stood up and even though it was an honest mistake, the guy abruptly ends the date prematurely because he tells you that he'd prefer the girl pretending to me you. And you're response is to gleefully agree to help him find her? In most cases, the guy should be rightfully wearing your drink after he admits this and should be promptly relieved of his feet as you make sure he forcefully lays his head onto the ground. But still I consider those to be minor complaints as the chemistry between Lake Bell and Simon Pegg is infectious in the best way.

Next Week's Movie: Chasing Amy