Larry Oliver Film Reviews

  Pictured : Emily overload. Lovelorn Owen ( Spike Fearn , centre ) sparks a larger conversation than he ever intended in a scene from the British romantic comedy, ' Finding Emily ', written by Rachel Hirons and directed by Alicia MacDonald . Still courtesy of Universal Pictures .   Working Title is one of the UK’s most prolific film production companies. Since 1994, it is associated with romantic comedies, in particular those written by Richard Curtis, specifically Four Weddings and a Funeral , Notting Hill and Love, Actually . A successful British romantic comedy does not work like its American counterpart. Rather, an all-star cast is assembled, as if for a disaster movie. By the end, at least two of the stars acknowledge their love for one another. The ensemble element is important. We are shown relationships at various stages, contrasting with the plight of the central couple, in order to acknowledge life beyond the ‘happy ending’. The disaster movie analogy is appr...

  I f the spread of Covid-19 had not forced a three-month lockdown, Rachel Hirons’ entertaining British romantic comedy, Second Date Sex , would have had a belated UK cinema release in April. It had one UK cinema screening, on 13 February for Galentine’s Day, ‘traditionally’ a day to celebrate female friendship. The non-Greetings Card day originated the American situation comedy, Parks and Recreation , in an episode first broadcast in 2010. Hirons’ film is self-explanatory: Ryan (George Mackay, with the wisp of a goatee beard) and Laura (Alexandra Roach) are on a second date, though for the most part they don’t leave Ryan’s house, and they have sex in that very British way, with much fumbling and no montage. Well, there is a montage, but that comes later. The film bears the date 2018 and since then Mackay has become a big deal, running for King and country in Sam Mendes’ award-winning World War One single-take marvel, 1917 . Roach is equally accomplished, having played the young ...