Review of Something Borrowed (2011) by Tasneem S — 06 Nov 2011

Allow me to kick off by saying, Kate Hudson looks old.

I have to admit I had some high hopes for "Something Borrowed", as high as a typical warm and fuzzy romantic comedy would go, but even for a chick flick the movie fails by all standards.

Half way through the movie, that is if anyone made it that far while still awake, the audience reaches a defining conclusion, "Something Borrowed" is neither romantic nor funny, for a supposed "Romantic comedy" the problem here is obvious.

However, lack of comedy and romance is not the factor diffracting "Something Borrowed" from other films in the genre. While the predictable formula for a romantic comedy requires a sympathetic underdog with an inferiority complex and a detestable narcissistic antihero, "Something Borrowed" unintentionally creates three main characters, each one more despicable than the other, there's simply no reason to care about or root for anyone of them, even the puppy eyed underdog hereon.

The plot circles around the intricacies of female friendships, Rachel has to live with the guilt of sleeping with her childhood friend's future husband Dex, while simultaneously working through her feelings for him, feelings that are apparently shared by Dex. But..and a rather poorly written one at that, things get complicated with the bride to be Darcy, and the movie continues to collapse till it ultimately reaches its foreseeable ending.

As I haven't read the original novel by author Emily Giffin, I can't be sure if the story itself is an artificial exploration of relationships, or if something got lost in screenwriting and the character's intentions and actions didn't translate well on the screen.

Kate looking old and exhausted aside, the actors do a good job with the characters they were given, the cast deserves better than this fluff romance wannabe.

While "Something Borrowed" is a cinematic failure, there's a precious marketing lesson to be learned about lowering expectations, if the trailer had said: " A bore, Sleep Inducing and Generic", ratings and revenues may have been better.