One Day

Director:Lone Scherfig

Writers:David Nicholls (screenplay), David Nicholls (book)

Stars:Anne Hathaway, Jim Sturgess and Patricia Clarkson

Motion Picture Rating: PG-13

Runtime: 107 minutes

 

 

The One Day novel sold over 1 million copies and was translated over 35 times worldwide. It was positioned as a romantic book with cross-gender appeal and it was evidently very popular. Whilst I did not see men reading it on the tube from 2009 to 2011, I certainly saw a lot of women engrossed in the story of university friends Dexter and Emma – the story of how their lives in London unfold and intersect after their graduation day on July 15 1988.

The screenplay for this film is by the writer of the book David Nicholls so I assume that it is faithful to the source material. The ‘gimmick’ of the novel remains as the story is told from the perspective of a series of July 15 days from 1988 to 2006. During that period Dexter (Jim Sturgess) and Emma (Anne Hathaway) grow up, fall in and out of love, support each other through various travails, and constantly seem on the edge of becoming more than friends. Both struggle to put their carefree student days properly behind them and both are prone to loneliness in the big city. These themes are central to what is otherwise a conventional romantic drama.

In short, I really disliked this film. The story is ridden with clichés and feels highly manipulative. Throughout the almost endless run of July 15 days I had absolutely no empathy for Dexter or Emma. The two characters are flawed caricatures. He’s not sharp, but finds life easy whilst she’s smart, but socially awkward. He’s cool and she’s nerdy etc. Neither lead actor delivers a believable performance, but Anne Hathaway is hopelessly miscast. Her English accent is horrible and to give her the clumsy, nerdy and awkward ‘look’ she hangs out in doc martins and comedy glasses. Awful.