Review of Happythankyoumoreplease (2011) by Megan W — 22 May 2011

HappyThankYouMorePlease is a wonderfully successful dramedy for Josh Radnor of "How I Met Your Mother" fame, he pulls triple duty as writer, director and actor and manages to deliver fantastic work in all three areas.

Josh Radnor who I think is hugely under-rated as an actor (see How I Met Your Mother) showcases that he has a keen ability for excellent dialogue and establishing a strong cast of interesting characters.

The script & story are really well done, there are some laughs to be had but I found myself enjoying the dramatic moments a lot more. Radnor does show some inexperience in his script as there is one too many subplots mainly involving his best friend trying to date a fellow co-worker and the ending isn't quite as satisfying as I would have liked.

Despite the faults with the plot, the characters are well rounded and Radnor has a talent for a realistic dialogue. Radnor's direction is also pleasing; he has an obvious love affair with New York (How I Met Your Mother again) and the way he shot the film is simple but well done with the movie rarely feeling slow or disjointed.

Enhancing Radnor's already good material are the performances from a great cast. Josh Radnor plays a slightly more confused version of Ted (HIMYM) but might as well stick to what he knows and he delivers in both the comedic and dramatic moments very well.

Newcomer Michael Algieri is excellent as the kid that Sam takes care of while Malin Akerman is fine as Sam's quirky best friend. Tony Hale from Arrested Development shows up in a small role but his story arc feels fairly unnecessary in the long run and Zoe Kazan is cute as hell and delivers strong work in her performance as Sam's cousin.

As I was watching HappyThankYouMorePlease, I couldn't help think of "Garden State", a film by Zach Braff who was mainly known for his TV role and that film proved that he was more than capable of acting and directing a magnificent feature.

For me, this is Josh Radnor's "Garden State", proving to critics that he is more than some random TV actor but a talented filmmaker with a strong sense for interesting characters and clever dialogue.

The story may feel a little like a more dramatic Big Daddy and stumbles a few times but overall, HappyThankYouMorePlease is a captivating dramedy that features excellent performances from the entire cast and a stellar script.

Amazing debut for Josh Radnor and I hope to see him tackle more original material like this in the future.