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How To Be Single
| Released |
19 February 2016 |
| Director |
Christian Ditter |
Starring
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Dakota Johnson, Rebel Wilson, Damon Wayans Jr., Anders Holm, Alison Brie, Nicholas Braun, Jake Lacy, Jason Mantzoukas, Leslie Mann |
Writer(s)
|
Abby Kohn, Marc Silverstein, Dana Fox |
| Producer(s) |
John Rickard, Dana Fox |
| Origin |
United States |
| Running Time |
109 minutes |
| Genre |
Comedy, romance |
| Rating |
15A |
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Rebel without a cause.
The poster for How to be Single shows the four central characters sitting on the edge of a footpath in last night's clothes as Rebel Wilson holds aloft a bottle of champagne in a gesture of elation. "Welcome to the party" exclaims the tagline. Well, the thing is, we've already arrived. Single women everywhere are partying with their friends, having casual relationships with men, bringing up children and holding down jobs – it's pretty normal day to day stuff. We can even figure out how to turn off the Spanish subtitles on our televisions (something that Dakota Johnson's character needs her ex-boyfriend to do for her).
The current trend in romantic comedy for ribald, forthright female characters who drink, sleep around and generally do as they please is sold to the female audience as something radical and progressive. Well, women don't need a Hollywood film to reinforce how they choose to live their lives and even if that were the case, the portrayal of women in these films is just as patronising as that which has gone before. Yes ladies, in romantic comedy terms we've gone through the sexual looking glass and what's on the other is just as damaging. Sure, the four women looking for happiness in New York City may have different attitudes towards men but that is still what defines them as characters. Crucially, for a film with four female leads, there is little hope of it passing the Bechdel test.
That said, a lot can be forgiven if a film is funny enough. Unfortunately, How to be Single has more misses that hits. Dakota Johnson's Alice is sweet but too meek to have comedic chops - this job falls to Rebel Wilson, who pulls out her usual brash schtick to only mediocre effect. As for Alison Brie's character...I'm not even sure why she was in the film. Top of the bunch is Leslie Mann as a successful doctor who wants to have a baby without the help of a partner. Her mixture of neuroses and sweetness is always welcome.
How to Be Single is sure to be a box office hit and despite its many flaws, this represents a victory for female-led film. If women are shown to be able to carry this kind of high-profile hit, more will be made and more voices will be heard. That's the dream anyway. But until then, the female audience will have to be content with the window-dressing of progress; a shallow female character shown sitting on a fire escape, wistfully reading The Bell Jar.
-
Linda O'Brien |
