Director: Michael Dowse
Distributor: eOne
Duration: 102 minutes
What If (DVD) – Movie Review
Getting friendzoned is probably the worst thing that can happen to you if you’re having a crush on a particular person. Being friends with someone while you know perfectly well it could never turn out the way you want can be quite a bit of mental torture. In What If, we meet Wallace, a guy who gets friendzoned so badly that you immediately feel sorry for him.
Wallace’s life isn’t exactly one to get severely jealous about. He dropped out of med school and just discovered that his girlfriend (who’s also a med school student) has been cheating on him. As a result, Wallace becomes a true cynical guy concerning everything about love and this gives the movie most of its most funny moments as Wallace has a witty answer to all love-related topics. However, it doesn’t take too long before Wallace gets another taste of finding himself in an awkward position. On a party, he meets Chantry, a beautiful and interesting girl and as of that moment, Wallace is madly in love with her. There’s only one minor problem: Chantry has a boyfriend with whom she lives with. As our cynical buddy tries to impress the girl and manages to obtain her phone number, Chantry explicitly tells him that she has no interest whatsoever in becoming something more than friends. Ouch.
Our friend is not one to give up so soon so he tries to stay around Chantry and asks his best friend Allan for advise (Chantry is actually Allan’s cousin so the subject is quite sensitive at first). Allan however, has his hands full on his own girlfriend and the advice he gives is rather… unhelpful. A lot of funny (but awkward) situations unravel (like when Wallace meets Chantey’s boyfriend) which gives the movie an overall hilarious vibe while the romantic stuff is kind of complementary. Still, if you’re in the mood for a decent romantic comedy, What If doesn’t offer the most original storyline but succeeds without any problem in keeping the movie a light experience. The humour is mostly spot on and even if you’re not really into romantic movies; this one is enjoyable to watch regardless of the whole romantic theme.
Acting wise, the roster is not insignificant as we see Daniel Radcliffe, widely known for his role as Harry Potter, taking up the role as Wallace. Although you don’t see a lot of some members of the Harry Potter cast performing in other movies, it’s a good thing Radcliffe is still in the acting business as he’s pretty good at what he does. He portraits Wallace in a convincing way and succeeds perfectly in making some situations amusing and enjoyable to experience. Co-star Zoe Kazan makes for a dynamic duo together with Radcliffe and you can see how well the two can work together. Eventually, you just NEED the two of them to be a couple in the movie as their characters are so cute together. Adam Driver who plays the pretty weird and eccentric Allan is just the perfect guy for the job. Trust me, you’ll know why when you see him acting.
What If comes with a bunch of decent extras. Of course, like any other movie, the disc has some deleted scenes for the viewer to watch. A bit more interesting is the addition of an alternate ending, which is also included as an extra. If you find the ending of What If a bit unsatisfactory, you should definitely check this one out. In The Making of What If the cast and crew of the movie will give you some interesting inside information on the creation of 102 minutes of entertainment. On the Red Carpet shows you how the big premiere of What If took place with all the actors and actresses dressed up nicely to walk… well, the red carpet of course! Lastly, the two stars of the show, Radcliffe and Kazan, have an extra dedicated to their person as they both get interviewed on the roles they play in the movie.
Conclusion
As mentioned before in this review, What If is a pretty ‘light’ movie. What I mean by that is more particularly that anyone who enjoys watching a comedy once in awhile and die-hard romance lovers alike will probably like watching the movie. The plot isn’t original whatsoever and sometimes the humour looks to be on the first place, passing by the romantic theme, but overall, it is just so easy to forget about things like a complex storyline and just lie down and let the movie do its thing. I really want to express how Radcliffe and Kazan both shine in these roles and it’s hard to think of a better duo to accomplish what they did. Well done to both of them!
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