Relationships are never easy. It takes time, commitment and understanding to get past all the differences. And even then, not everything gets settled. Romantic comedies are not the easiest to represent realistically because not every story comes out with a happy ending. But for the most part every audience wants a satisfying ending and that's just how things are; even if it is cliche. That's really the only weak point of this film. And although, his filmography does not carry a strong history of showings, this looks like director Tim Story's strongest movie. There is just so much going for it in the writing that helps string along its characters.
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| The guys |
The title is based off of celebrity Steve Harvey's book of the same name and how Harvey's book helps a group of girls (and guys, later on) figure out how to be the better partner. The writers, Keith Merrymen and David A. Newman who wrote the screenplay for Friends with Benefits (2011) a year before, did a great job at connecting each story together and critically defining the various types of females and males and focusing on their pros and cons. Not only does this help open the audiences’ eyes to what possibly they didn't know, but it also gives viewers a character to connect with, especially if they know what kind of individual they are when it comes to dating.
Plus, each relationship story arc is given pretty much an equal amount of time for everything. No one gets the spotlight more than the other does, and that's perfect. And although, Kevin Hart is the most comical of the bunch, he too did not hog the spotlight and gave his fellow co-stars enough screen time of their own. Thank you Peter S. Elliot for doing a terrific editing job. I see that's why he was chosen to edit Iron Man 3 (2013) as well. The casting was well done too. There are multiple cameos from celebrities from music to sports. My favorite couple of the stories was Michael Ealy and Taraji P. Henson. Too cute.
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| Michael Ealy & Taraji P. Henson =D |
And it's because of the casting that the chemistry, emotion in the romance and comedy work. Each couple has their own funny and emotional moments that help define what each of the two lovers are going through and how it affects them. Making these scenes even more effective was composer Christopher Lennertz unreleased score to the film. Most of it contains jazzy tunes with a saxophone and guitar and it really adds to the down to earth laid back tone of the plot. Well done now if only he would release it.
A movie containing multiple stories isn't the easiest to follow but this rom-com completely defies that claim. The actors do a wonderful job, the music is great and the story is written exceptionally well.
Points Earned --> 9:10
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