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 inv...