One Day

One Day is an adaptation of the world renowned book of the same title.  About a man called Dex and a girl called Emma, we follow their friendships peaks and troughs over the space of 20 years on one particular day of each year.

Classic 'They meet, they fall in love' story it is not.  I loved the book. I mean, I really loved the book.  Romantic comedy with a twist, it had me hooked and I couldn't put the book down.  I was even moved to tears on the train home. Twice.

Many will say that reading the book first will only mean the film will be crap.  We all have our own 'Dex and Em' in our minds and the screen adaptations never fit.  And you would be right with this film.  Jim Sturgess is a great Dex, obnoxious, stupid, more money than sense kind of guy, who only learns his lessons when it is too late.  Anne Hathaway however is no Em.  Not even close.  Emma is brash, Northern, opinionated, real.  Hathaway barely emits any of the 'Em' characteristics and does it with a really, really, REALLY BAD ACCENT.  Carey Mulligan would have been a good Em.  But they chose an American star to sell it to America.  And they will think her accent is really 'authentic'.

The film is style over substance, beautiful scenery, fun titles throughout the film but never really gets the true essence of the love story.   Its not until almost the end do I really see the love story that I had read all those months ago.

Just because a book is popular, doesn't mean a rushed adaptation will make it even better.  Why not wait and pick the right cast, the right approach, the right script?  I worry The Help is going to go the same way.  Directors, take note. The Notebook did it well.  Stick to that formula please.