Review of Man Up (2015) by Ian R — 18 May 2016

In recent years I started to feel like the days of the classic romantic comedy genre have died. There are plenty of pure comedies that have a small sprinkling of romance, or pure romances with virtually no comedy, but rarely anything like the films we used to see from the great Nora Ephron.

Man Up is exactly what I used to expect from the genre. The film is about a girl named Nancy (played by Lake Bell) who is mistaken for the blind date of a guy named Jack (played by Simon Pegg.) It's one of those classic cases of mistaken identity that leads to ever escalating wackiness.

In many ways, if you've seen other rom-coms, you can foresee all the beats that this movie is going to make but I found that satisfying. I'm not 100% sold on Lake Bell as a leading lady, but she handles the comedy well, and seems to fit the personality they were looking for in this character.

Simon Pegg impressed me tremendously, because most of the roles I've seen him play are very heavily comedic and I didn't know if I could take him seriously at all, but he nailed this character.

He was quirky and funny, but not in a silly way that made Jack seem like a caricature, and he totally sold me on the emotional moments. The story is not all that original, in fact parts of it felt so familiar that I started to wonder if they had been done before in other films.

However, for some reason, when I watch romantic comedies I don't really mind a lack of originality if the emotion is genuine. If it warms my heart and makes me smile I call it a success, and that's exactly what Man Up did for me.

As for recommendations, Man Up is probably the easiest film to know if you will enjoy it because it so perfectly fits the mold of its genre. If you like rom-coms then check it out, and if you don't then don't.