The book was a wonderful read. One Day was a movie I was looking forward to, and while it was disappointing I found it very pleasant.
What made the book so good and such a joy to read was not just the emotional impact, modern angst and characterisation but also how nostalgic it made me. The emotional impact and angst is here in the movie, what wasn't quite there was the nostalgia-evidence of it but could've been more- and characterisation which does feel choppy especially with Patricia Clarkson's Alison though Dexter is well realised.
That said, I loved the beautiful look of the film, the soundtrack which gave the film its sense of nostalgia and the witty banter between Sturgess and Hathaway. The romantic elements are touching though the comedic elements don't always work coming across as a tad contrived. The direction is decent, the telling of the story is well paced(if somewhat glacial) and faithful and the script has some nice touches but also some weak ones. Of the support performances I thought Rafe Spall, Romola Garai and Ken Stott were the most effective and Clarkson was good if deserving of more to do. The picture belongs to Jim Sturgess, while staying true to his bad boy character of Dexter he also manages to be sympathetic.
My feelings on Anne Hathaway were mixed. I loved her radiance and her chemistry with Sturgess, but her accent was inconsistent and felt forced and unnatural whenever she tried it. The shock ending also felt more bewildering than anything else, not the actual tragedy itself but rather the flashbacks that succeeded that I wasn't sure was really needed.
In conclusion, pleasant if not entirely successful. 6.5/10 Bethany Cox
What made the book so good and such a joy to read was not just the emotional impact, modern angst and characterisation but also how nostalgic it made me. The emotional impact and angst is here in the movie, what wasn't quite there was the nostalgia-evidence of it but could've been more- and characterisation which does feel choppy especially with Patricia Clarkson's Alison though Dexter is well realised.
That said, I loved the beautiful look of the film, the soundtrack which gave the film its sense of nostalgia and the witty banter between Sturgess and Hathaway. The romantic elements are touching though the comedic elements don't always work coming across as a tad contrived. The direction is decent, the telling of the story is well paced(if somewhat glacial) and faithful and the script has some nice touches but also some weak ones. Of the support performances I thought Rafe Spall, Romola Garai and Ken Stott were the most effective and Clarkson was good if deserving of more to do. The picture belongs to Jim Sturgess, while staying true to his bad boy character of Dexter he also manages to be sympathetic.
My feelings on Anne Hathaway were mixed. I loved her radiance and her chemistry with Sturgess, but her accent was inconsistent and felt forced and unnatural whenever she tried it. The shock ending also felt more bewildering than anything else, not the actual tragedy itself but rather the flashbacks that succeeded that I wasn't sure was really needed.
In conclusion, pleasant if not entirely successful. 6.5/10 Bethany Cox