Review of Happythankyoumoreplease (2011) by Mike C — 30 Nov 2011

Another pretty good independent movie. I netflixed it because it was a story about a writer. It's a little of that, but much more, it's a story featuring some pretty good lines and some pretty good characters. The weakest link in the film actually happens to be Radnor's unblinking, kinda assholish writer character, but he was forgiven once I discovered he also wrote and directed the movie.

The characters steal the show. Radnor is the main character, a failed writer of sorts who stumbles upon a lost foster care kid and takes him in for a bit. He does and says some likable stuff, but he's a bit of a dick as well. His love interest is Kate Mara. She's pretty tough to beat in the girl department. Make her vulnerable (she has a great line...I've been pretty fragile lately. You have to be nice), and/or put her on a stage with a yellow light coming through her hair and you've got movie magic. Radnor's cousin is pretty adorable. Her boyfriend is thinking about moving to LA (story takes place in NYC). She discovers she is pregnant but doesn't want to trap him, nor does she want to move to LA. There are some decent scenes and lines, but her coming out to him was pretty great. Easily worth the extra 1/10 on that scene alone. Naturally, the boyfriend character plays it perfectly. The bald chick I respected because she's normally quite gorgeous in her roles, so its a bit of a step for her to play someone who has no hair. Her character is decent and she's usually a pretty good actress. Her story is also interesting as you're not quite sure what to make of Sam 2. He is great, then he is scary, then he is actually pretty great.

Radnor is evidently compared a lot to Zach Braff. Whatever. I've seen a lot of Braff stuff and it never crossed my mind to compare the two. That's just lazy and idiotic reviews, or people who want to sound smart by cross-referencing the three movies they watch a year. He's certainly got a lot of room to improve on his acting, but all things considered...that he was tied up with the writing and directing, which I give him some nice props...not bad at all. I would love to write and direct a movie I enjoyed this much.