One Day Movie Review

When I reviewed One Day this past June, I was on the edge of my seat with anticipation over the film adaptation. I fell in love with the story, fell in love with Emma and Dex. It's a spell-binding, magical tale of love and friendship that slaps you in the head with its blinding ending. The pace is magnificent, and the attention to detail really makes you feel like you're experiencing all these things with Emma and Dex.

I was so pleased with the film, for a few reasons. First, David Nicholls (the author) also wrote the script, which pretty much guaranteed that the movie would honor the book, which it did. And the few places it wavered--I liked them even more. They made sense, cinematically. Not all scenes in a book translate well to the screen; sometimes the drama needs to be heightened, the senses assaulted in a different way. And this adaptation did a fantastic job staying true to the novel while taking liberties that made the film version even more engaging.

Jim Sturgess is amazing. I can't say enough good things about how wonderfully he portrayed Dexter. He was absolutely perfect in this role. Dex was the character who moved me the most in the book, perhaps because he's the character who goes through the most change. And, in the end, he's the character who has to live through numerous personal tragedies. I love Anne Hathaway, and in many ways, I think she embodied Emma very well. But her British accent is just awful. A few times, it even sounded like she slipped into an Irish or Scottish brogue. She had the face and personality for this character, but her voice was painfully distracting. But the two of them together? Pretty perfect. They played off each other so well, and the chemistry was definitely there. And since the whole story is about this deep-rooted and undeniable connection between two characters--despite how long it takes them to realize and then accept it--finding actors who could really become these two people was so important and necessary for the film's success.

In the end, the love is center-stage, as it should be. And, happily, the film producers didn't pull a My Sister's Keeper  and completely change the ending. It's a rough ending; I've said that a few times. But I love the way the film does it, and I especially loved the final scene. It sounds corny to say it was beautiful, but it was. I was moved. It was something extremely special to watch on screen, especially after reading the book. They did a wonderful, lovely, careful job with an ending that is, at the very least, extremely emotional. But it's poetic. And stunning. It's not a Disney tale of a prince or princess, but it has that true-love-never-dies quality to it. The message that real, genuine love is beyond the grasp of everything in the world. It's a story of hope. And, despite everything you watch over the course of the almost two-hour film, you'll leave the theater with a smile on your face and a slightly damp tissue in your pocket.

Photos courtesy of Google Images, and video courtesy of YouTube