Review of See Girl Run (2012) by Alex M — 14 Jun 2014

I can't remember the last time I had such mixed feelings about a movie. Taken as a whole, I actually really appreciate the story told here; yet the execution could have been so much better. See Girl Run tells the story of Emmie Barker, a married woman in her thirties as she reflects on all the "what ifs" in her life - particularly, the question of, "What if I had stayed with my old boyfriend Jason?" (whom she claims she never technically broke up with).

And so the audience watches as she leaves her husband for several days to delve into her romantic history. What follows is initially a pretty good film, until the movie reaches its third act. For the entire movie, we are following Emmie (played by Robin Tunney) and her High School sweetheart Jason (brilliantly played by Adam Scott) as they go about their lives, Emmie reconnecting with her brother and Jason slowly starting to connect with Emmie's brother - and for me, I started to sympathize with Jason quite a bit.

So when in the end they don't end up getting back together, I was initially quite shocked; we, the audience, get to know Jason and really see his life and get to know and like his character, whereas we never really see or hear from Emmie's husband except for at the very beginning of the film.

As a result, when Jason is turned down, it just doesn't feel right - there is no emotional payoff, only an emotional letdown. I guess on paper, this movie makes sense, and I really did enjoy a lot of it, but See Girl Run is a prime example of a mediocre movie with occasional moments of excellence.