100 Movie Challenge 2015 - # 69: What If

Director: Michael Dowse

Genre: Comedy/ Drama/ Romance

Runtime: 102 minutes

Year: 2013

Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Zoe Kazan, Adam Driver, Megan Parks, Mackenzie Davis, Rafe Spall, Lucius Hoyos, Jemima Rooper, Tommie-Amber Pirie, Meghan Heffern, Jonathan Cherry, Rebecca Northan, Jordan Hayes, Oona Chaplin, Adam Fergus

Description: Wallace (Daniel Radcliffe), who is burned out from a string of failed relationships, forms an instant bond with Chantry (Zoe Kazan), who lives with her longtime boyfriend (Rafe Spall). Together, they puzzle out what it means if your best friend is also the love of your life.

Review: Not very original, but very enjoyable is this romantic comedy “What If”, with Zoe Kazan and Daniel Radcliffe, who manages to make us forget about Harry Potter.

Radcliffe plays Wallace. This young twenty something lives in his sisters attic, he has a crappy job as the writer of manuals and has been single for quite some time. Because Wallace and his ex where both in school to become doctors, Wallace dropped out. Since then he hardly has a social life. His friend Alan invites him over for a party and that’s where Wallace meets Alan’s cousin Chantry. The two have an instant connection, but later that night he finds out she has a boyfriend. They decide to be just friends. When Chantry’s boyfriend has to go to Ireland for work, Wallace and Chantry’s friendship develops.

“What If” is a charming comedy, that is fun because of the natural charisma of the two leads. Radcliffe and Kazan have perfect chemistry. The question, if men and women can have a platonic relationship, has been asked many times before. Director Michael Dowse and script writer Elan Mastai gave it a fresh twist.

Another plus is the dialogue. Sometimes strange and cynical, but so pleasant to listen too. The story is sometimes over the top, like the first meeting between Wallace and Chantry’s boyfriend Ben or the moment where one wants to follow the other overseas.

“What If” is still a joy to watch, even with some clichés and unoriginality. Lovely leads and sharp dialogue are the two things that make this movie worth your time.

Rating: 3,5/ 5

Movie Trailer Sunday (141)

Here are this weeks trailers.

This is Where I Leave You

Description: When their father passes away, four grown siblings, bruised and banged up by their respective adult lives, are forced to return to their childhood home and live under the same roof together for a week, along with their over-sharing mother and an assortment of spouses, exes and might-have-beens. Confronting their history and the frayed states of their relationships among the people who know and love them best, they ultimately reconnect in hysterical and emotionally affecting ways amid the chaos, humor, heartache and redemption that only families can provide�driving us insane even as they remind us of our truest, and often best, selves.

Director: Shawn Levy

Starring: Jason Bateman, Tina Fey, Adam Driver, Rose Byrne, Corey Stoll, Kathryn Hahn, Abigail Spencer, Dax Shepard and Jane Fonda

Trailer: Trailer "This is Where I Leave You"

Comment: This could be good.

What If

Description: Medical school dropout Wallace (Daniel Radcliffe) has been repeatedly burned by bad relationships. So while everyone around him, including his roommate Allan (Adam Driver) seems to be finding the perfect partner (Mackenzie Davis), Wallace decides to put his love life on hold. It is then that he meets Chantry (Zoe Kazan) an animator who lives with her longtime boyfriend Ben (Spall). Wallace and Chantry form an instant connection, striking up a close friendship. Still, there is no denying the chemistry between them, leading the pair to wonder, what if the love of your life is actually your best friend?

Director: Michael Dowse

Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Zoe Kazan, Rafe Spall, Adam Driver, Megan Park, Mackenzie Davis, Oona Chaplin

Trailer: Trailer "What If"

Comment: I seeing past Harry Potter now, I think I will like this movie.

Kill the Messenger

Description: Gary Webb (Jeremy Renner) stumbles onto a story which leads to the shady origins of the men who started the crack epidemic on the nation's streets, and further alleges that the CIA was aware of major dealers who were smuggling cocaine into the U.S., and using the profits to arm rebels fighting in Nicaragua. Despite warnings from drug kingpins and CIA operatives to stop his investigation, Webb keeps digging to uncover a conspiracy with explosive implications. His journey takes him from the prisons of California to the villages of Nicaragua to the highest corridors of power in Washington, D.C., and draws the kind of attention that threatens not just his career, but his family and his life.

Director: Michael Cuesta

Starring: Jeremy Renner, Rosemarie DeWitt, Ray Liotta, Tim Blake Nelson, Barry Pepper, Oliver Platt, Michael Sheen, Paz Vega, Michael Kenneth Williams, Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Andy Garcia

Trailer: Trailer "Kill the Messenger"

Comment: I think Jeremy Renner is a good actor and he is surrounded by an all-star cast.

The Book of Life

Description: Manolo (Diego Luna) is a young man who is torn between fulfilling the expectations of his family and following his heart. Before choosing which path to follow, he embarks on an incredible adventure that spans three fantastical worlds where he must face his greatest fears.

Director: Jorge Gutierrez

Starring: Diego Luna, Channing Tatum, Zoë Saldana, Ice Cube, Ron Perlman, Christina Applegate, Kate del Castillo, Cheech Marin, Placido Domingo, Hector Elizondo, Ana de la Reguera, Eugenio Derbez, Gabriel Iglesias, Ricardo Sanchez and Danny Trejo

Trailer: Trailer "The Book of Life"

Comment: Guillermo Del Toro produced it and this film has a big Tim Burton feel to it.

A Walk Among the Tombstones

Description: Matt Scudder (Liam Neeson) is an ex-NYPD cop who now works as an unlicensed private investigator operating just outside the law. When Scudder reluctantly agrees to help a heroin trafficker (Dan Stevens) hunt down the men who kidnapped and then brutally murdered his wife, the PI learns that this is not the first time these men have committed this sort of twisted crime, nor will it be the last. Blurring the lines between right and wrong, Scudder races to track the deviants through the backstreets of New York City before they kill again.

Director: Scott Frank

Starring: Liam Neeson, Dan Stevens, David Harbour and Boyd Holbrook

Trailer: Trailer "A Walk Among the Tombstones"

Comment: I thought this was a western, just by looking at the title.