ALSO SHOWING
Can You Keep a Secret?
Cert: N/A, now VOD
If you enjoyed Marry, Love, Repeat, there is a chance you will also enjoy
Can You Keep a Secret? I, however, hated MLR — and though Can You Keep a Secret? feels less cynical and lazy, it fails, to my mind, for the same reasons. One of which is the that stumbling over every word is endearing. It isn’t. Even Hugh Grant doesn’t do it anymore.
Sophie Kinsella’s novel was a huge success, the idea of a character struggling with her insecurities and believing she is unlovable struck a chord with many readers. It’s a great premise but one which is stated rather than woven into this screenplay.
Emma (Alexandra Daddario) is a junior marketing exec who, following a disastrous business meeting, gets a bit trollied on a plane, panics when they hit turbulence and, believing she is about to die, spills her guts out to the man beside her, Jack (Tyler Hoechlin).
Rather than think her a tedious loon, Jack is charmed, which is just as well because he turns out to be her company CEO, which somehow she didn’t know. When she dumps her boyfriend, Jack hears about it instantly, asks her on a date and they have an amazing time including earthshattering sex, the lack of which she had been lamenting on the plane. And there is no boss/employee ethical issue at all, obviously.
It’s all great, then it isn’t, over something which has the dramatic impact of accidentally knocking your indicator on for a second. There is the odd F-word and some sexual references but overall it is fairly innocent; it does no one any harm. Enjoyment will depend largely on whether you find stumbling over every word funny. AINE O'CONNOR
ALSO STREAMING
After courting Oscar glory with the excellent Kennedy biopic Jackie
(2016), Chilean auteur Pablo Larrain returns with Ema (UK Cert 15, Mubi). Newcomer Mariana Di Girolamo stars as a reggaeton dancer who sets out on a mission to get back the son she put up for adoption. Gael Garcia Bernal is the child’s father who may or may not be in her way. Larrain’s films tend to be visually and narratively unforgettable, and this looks no different.
A schlocky update of Where Eagles Dare is the rough impression that one gets from the trailer for Enemy Lines (UK Cert 15, on demand from tomorrow), a WWII actioner starring Ed Westwick (Gossip Girl) and John Hannah (yes, Matthew from Four Weddings and a Funeral).
A covert Allied team of commandos lands in 1943 Poland looking to kidnap a Polish scientist being held by the Nazis. Naturally, the goose-steppers won’t make it easy for them.
To the battlefield of teen hormones we go now, and a love triangle with a difference. The Half of It (US Cert PG13, Netflix) is a high-school coming-of-age drama from writer-director Alice Wu. A classroom nerd is hired to write love letters on behalf of a jock, only to find that she might share his infatuation for the same object of desire.
This lockdown has us embracing all things epicurean, and if banana bread is beginning to seem passé, you might want to have a look at Diana Kennedy: Nothing Fancy (Cert Club, Dogwoof. com). This documentary portrait looks at the UK-born adventurer and food writer who over 50 years of fieldwork has become the world’s leading authority on Mexican cuisine.
Now in her late 90s, we follow Kennedy as she continues to fight to not only preserve the regional gastronomic traditions in a fast-changing Mexico but also the environmental conditions conducive to the best organic ingredients.
Michelle Obama is another figure of inspiration coming to our screens this week. Becoming (Netflix, from Wednesday) follows the former First Lady on a recent book tour for her best-selling memoir of the same title. En route, we see her reaching out to communities in need of some solace.
Part of the Obamas’ production deal with Netflix, this should be an uplifting experience with an effortlessly charismatic subject.