How To Be Single
Rebel with a cause…
you’d be forgiven for thinking that after mooning President Obama (in Pitch Perfect 2) and flashing her boobs (sort of) at the 2013 MTV Awards, Rebel Wilson might be running low on outrageous things to do. You’d be wrong – How To Be Single unleashes the Aussie in her filthiest, flirtiest and – yes – funniest role to date. Namechecking the film’s title, her paralegal Robin becomes a mentor to newly single co-worker Alice (Dakota Johnson), leading her on a tour of New York’s nightlife, variously advising her on texting, selfgrooming (“It’s like you dropped your hairbrush and your vagina caught it”) and how to power through a hangover.
Energising every scene she’s in, Wilson manifests like the genie from Aladdin to sprinkle one-liners and boozy life lessons throughout. But the film stutters in her absence. While Johnson is a likeable if subdued lead (her schmaltzy narration is kept to a tolerable minimum), writers Abby Kohn, Marc Silverstein and Dana Fox struggle to imbue their remaining women with much significant vim. Of those, Alison Brie’s sad-sack online dating obsessive appears to have stumbled in from Sex And The City (though she is at the centre of a great hair-ripping public meltdown), and Leslie Mann strives for sensitivity in her IVF subplot, but is still lumbered with outdated ‘neurotic singleton’ cliches.
Still, HTBS is leagues ahead of the last film based on a Liz Tuccillo novel; 2009’s He’s Just Not That Into You has none of Single’s fizz. Dumping the romcom gloss of Love, Rosie, director Christian Ritter depicts New York as a hip, grungy wonderland – cinematographer Christian Rein deserves credit for finding innovative new ways to shoot the world’s most screen-weary city. Ultimately, HTBS is Girls meets Sex And The City; a knowing, well-intentioned romantic comedy that celebrates self-empowerment even as it assures us we’ll all find Mr Right one day.
THE VERDICT Rebel Wilson steals the show in an anti-Valentine-com that tries to update the Sex And The City formula, and comes surprisingly close. The Big Apple’s rarely looked juicier.
› Certificate 15 Director Christian Ditter Starring Dakota Johnson, Rebel Wilson, Alison Brie, Leslie Mann Screenplay Dana Fox, Abby Kohn, Marc Silverstein Distributor Warner Bros Running time 110 mins