A charming but flawed film that attempts a slide of hand that in the end sort of works. I wouldn't recommend this film unless you enjoy independent films with quirky characters. Written by a guy named Reed Fish, this film tells the story of a guy named Reed Fish making a movie about his love life, starring friends and neighbors. That's sort of a spoiler but not really because of the playful choice of narrative Mr. Fish uses. Jay Baruchel plays the title role and he does a pretty good job considering he's playing a guy who basically can't decide which girl he wants to be with, the girl he is with and is planning on marrying or his first love who is back in town. That's right, he's not the most compelling guy and it's hard to really root for him. Overall there was some nice light comedy that never completely develops as the real Reed Fish tries to turn the film into a more dramatic work. I wish he had focused on comedy instead because the drama feels forced and the comedy is very natural. Grade: B.
Spoilers: Okay, when discussing this film I must bring up the ending and that's how he switches the character's names attempting to trick the audience. I didn't really care for this, mostly because I never really bought into the love story. When it is revealed the name of the girl he's actually in love with it's kind of a head-scratcher. I'm not saying I hated how Mr. Reed did this, and I guess making the audience struggle with which girl he should be with, creates dramatic interest but I'd have liked to believe from the very beginning that he should be with the old girl friend, Jill, but I was actually thinking he should be with the fiancee, Kate, instead. So the end was unsatisfying. He did such a good job making you care about that relationship with Kate that when it doesn't work out it's disappointing. Not a good thing for a romantic comedy, especially when the final scene is actually really cool. I just wish Mrs. Appleby had been Kate instead of Jill. Oh well.
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