 It’s always a little creepy when you write a film, direct it, and pick the only person you think will be able to understand the film to play the lead: yourself. That’s exactly what we might accuse Josh Radnor for doing with Happythankyoumoreplease (HTMP). It seems beyond self-indulgent, and given Radnor’s theatre background, you might be compelled to think the whole thing will be really pretentious too.
The film’s description on IMDb (“Captures a generational moment - young people on the cusp of truly growing up, tiring of their reflexive cynicism, each in their own ways struggling to connect and define what it means to love and be loved,”) also implies that this is one of those coming of age films that are going to be totally poignant in a way that will make you want to floss your brain with some good old mediocrity afterward.
HTMP is slightly self indulgent. Josh Radnor’s character, Sam Wexler is a little bit of a tortured artist. He is a writer living in New York, whose work no publisher wants to touch. Okay so he does make it to a meeting with one, who tells him he is better with short stories than a novel. Sam also manages to say some of the most intentionally unintentional deep lines in the film (e.g. when Mississippi asks him why she should trust him, he says “because somebody has to”) and is the guy who does crazy impulsive things out of the goodness of his heart and innately romantic nature. In some ways, Sam Wexler is Ted Mosby, but with a five-day scruff and a slightly broodier edge.
 Sam finds himself with a little boy, Rasheen, on his hands when Rasheen gets separated from his guardian on the train, and refuses to go back. Sam tries repeatedly to ditch Rasheen and get on with it, but fails, because he ends up coming back and taking the boy back each time. This, as his friends point out, can be construed as kidnapping, but Sam is too much of a softie to let that keep him from putting a roof over Rasheen’s head while he can.
One of the big surprises of HTMP is Malin Akerman who plays Sam’s best friend Annie. Akerman has played her fair share of the pretty blonde ‘that girl’ roles in loads of romcoms, of which 27 Dresses and The Proposal come to mind. Her USP in any film is looking cute and being a supporting character who helps move the story along. As Annie though, Malin Akerman proves she can go beyond playing second fiddle to queens of the romcom. Annie is smart but superficial and makes as many mistakes as anyone else and tries to keep it together. Hopefully this is going to be Malin Akerman’s big jump to roles with more substance, because she can pull it off.
Of course there are times when HTMP does all these arty things like suddenly zooming onto a plate or hands touching, and Sam’s three- day girlfriend/hookup Mississipi (Kate Mara) can be too cutesily clever at times but it’s all good. Somehow this is a film that is all these things and still watchable. And not just watchable in away that enables you to kill 90 minutes with something to do, but in a way that actually engages you and makes you want to see what happens next.
Josh Radnor has clearly worked hard at making the characters as real as possible and has given them their redeeming qualities as well as flaws, but none of it seems forced and you find yourself caring for the characters. Even Mary Katherine (Zoe Kazan), Sam’s cousin, who is beyond quirky with her love for New York and cheeky slogan tees is endearing. This whole film is quite endearing, and the best part is, though all these people are pretty messed up in their own way, the whole message the film wants to give out is to just be happy. And there aren’t many films that can do that without being completely annoying.
If you’re a fan of Ted Mosby, this film is definitely right up your alley. If you’re not, it’s still worth it to watch, because it will leave you feeling happy, saying thank you and wanting more, please.
– Amina Baig
*CINEMATIC SUICIDE
**FORGETTABLE
***WATCHABLE
****COLLECTIBLE
*****AWARD-WORTH |
