Puzzled.

I saw One Day on Wednesday.
I don't know what I think.

I'm confused, yo.

D: 

I was in a restless sort of mood, having spent most of the day doing a whole lot of nothing. Unless of course, you'd describe watching about four episodes of Dexter, staring wistfully at ticket stubs and assorted bits of crap collected in South America then attempting to tidy up as "something". So, I wandered over to the local cinematorium, thinking that I'd catch The Change-Up (seeing as my default state is always Intellectual, guys). Little did I know that it was in fact a Wednesday, and my chosen body-switch buddy comedy wasn't to be released for another twenty four hours. Curses. So I saw One Day.

My knowledge of One Day was limited to wondering "is that the book I was going to buy at the airport but didn't?" (Yes it was, and I bought The Feast of the Goat instead), and the fact that it stars Jim Sturgess and he is incredibly attractive.

I was the only person in the cinema, so my shoes were removed and my crap spread over as many seats as I could manage. Certainly, it was a comfortable viewing experience. Was it a good film though? Dude, I don't know.

I don't know.

I enjoyed it. I got kind of teary at the end. I enjoyed the whole mid-90s vibe. I enjoyed Jim Sturgess. Anne Hathaway's accent was at times questionable, but that was okay ... I guess. One Day is about a couple of pals. Emma and Dexter. They nearly shag after graduation, then spend the 90s nearly getting together because they're obviously best friends and perfect for each other but the longer they don't realise it the more epic it will be when they get together. Epic it is, and epic are the consequences.

I got back home, had a cup of tea, and found myself continuing to think about the film. I wished I was in South America. I thought, "Gosh darn, I'd like me some good old fashioned lovin'." I wished my beloved-yet-interstate Mitch was on Skype so I could complain about my lack of good old fashioned lovin', and to discuss the day's Reddit goings-on. I wished we got to keep our graduation gowns post-graduation in order to experience the post-graduation partytimes depicted in the film's opening.

Then it dawned on me. The realisation raised its head in my head like some sort of Brachiosaurus in front of Sam Neill. Arms raised, yelling, like a Platoon-era Charlie Sheen. I'd been had. By Lone Scherfig and Jim Sturgessesseseses' pretty face and a glum mood.

Had I been more upbeat upon entering the cinema, I dare say I would have become very irritated at One Day. I would have become very irritated very quickly. I would have grown weary of the courtship that lasted decades. At the overwhelming weepiness of the entire affair. At one of the most irritating accents of recent memory, Anne Hathaway. Yeah, it was definitely a weepy. I (very often) hate weepies! They make me vomit in my mouth!

I guess the two leads elevated the film, stepped the happenings up a notch or two. They had good chemistry, I will give them that. And yes, as a lady who regards a lovable yet flaky ladykiller as perhaps her closest friend, I'd probably say I probably identify with a good ol' chunk of what our two heroes encounter. Still, I have to wonder what my reaction to One Day would have been if I hadn't been in an emotional place to make me think, "Aw. I miss Mitts". One that made me ponder a romantic escapade set in Cusco and filled with sighs. One that's a fair few steps above "wallowing" but still conducive to gazing longingly out windows. I sat there on my lonesome, my shit strewn all over the place and wished curses and plagues on whoever decided films should be released on Thursdays.

I don't categorically hate all cinematic courtships that span decades and that end in tragedy (spoiler?). I don't mind when a film attempts to incite an en masse reach for the kleenex, if it's done tastefully and classily. I like a good romantic cinema-cry as much as the next person. It's just that the more I thought about it, the more I wondered whether or not One Day was something I'd like at all in any viewing situation other than the one I'd just had. And look, I know what you're thinking.
"But Reb, surely you should just embrace whatever emotional reaction you have to a film! Emotional response achieved, film job done!" 
Yeah, I guess. But you know what? After all of that pondering, I really want to know what a regular-Reb reaction (alliteration and referring to myself in the third person!) would be.

So what did I think of One Day? I don't know. It might be annoying. It might be an over the top weepy. It might be great. I'll watch it again, and report back with my findings.