Review of Something Borrowed (2011) by Andres M — 28 Sep 2011

If there was ever a movie that tried to combine or "borrow" every single chick flick cliche and then some, this is it...but surprisingly, at least in my opinion, in this case that's not actually a bad thing.

"Something Borrowed" (2011) is a romantic comedy based on the Emily Giffin's book of the same name. It is a fairly simple premise in that two girls...better yet, two best friends...are in love...but, their in love with the same guy. This twisted love triangle takes many more twists and turns until finally coming to the nice happy ending we are all expecting out of a movie like this...well...more or less.

The loveable Ginnifer Goodwin stars as Rachel White, the good hearted protagonist of the movie, who falls for her college friend, and fellow lawyer Dex Tahler, played by the handsome Colin Egglesfield. He had a huge crush on White while back in college and still has feeling for her now, even though being engaged to her annoying bff Darcy Rhone, played by Kate Hudson, whom he met, while on a date with White. Rhone has always been the controlling and forward member of the Rachel-Darcy friendship, always getting what she wants, and Rachel has always just gone along with it, being the good friend. While all their relationships are tested, viewing this debacle from the sidelines is Rachel's long-time trusted friend Ethan, played by John Krasinski, who himself has his own secrets.

As mentioned previously, practically every cliche and chick flick stereotype you can think of is in this film, however, what prevents it from becoming predictable or simply a rehashing of past themes, is a multi-pronged approach involving good acting, great backdrops and soundtrack, and relate-able characters. The acting is very solid across the board, with some stand out performances by Krasinski, who steals every scene he's in, and Hudson, in her most purposely annoying performance to date. Hudson and Goodwin have great chemistry on screen and truly seem like life long friends who seamlessly parlay back and forth through all their conversations. The movie, although containing so many past concepts, somehow does not get predictable. Time and time again, I found myself having to try and guess what was going to happen next, because whatever I had come up with before, had just been proven wrong.

The film honestly does run a bit long, but that is to make sure all the different cliff hangers, twists and turns are developed nicely and not simply clumped together. The backdrop of beautiful New York City and the Hamptons looks great, and really fit the characters well. Though being in such a recognizable city, more out of the ordinary locals are picked, which is a nice change from the norm.

The soundtrack for the film was one of the highlights for me, and every song fit perfectly with its respective situation, putting you in the right mood. Even with the great soundtrack and solid acting through most parts, what really sold the movie for me though, was the fact that many of the characters in this film and their respective scenarios, fit directly into my life, as I am sure would fit into yours as well. I mirror one of the characters almost perfectly, as do many of my friends with other characters. It was quite interesting seeing the movie play out, along with our respective doppelgangers. This obviously is a more biased opinion, and some of you may find that you do not relate nearly as much to the characters or the story as I do.

Although being released to mixed reviews, I really enjoyed this movie. Friends have even commented how they enjoyed this film more than the book, which we all know is usually rare ;). The film, although running a bit long, is a delightful mixture of various situations I am sure we have all encountered in our own lives in the past. The acting is solid, and the script has great dialogue sequences. Though almost all the situations found in this movie has played out in other films, they are presented in a new and exciting format as to tell a much different story, and so they stay fresh and keep the film nicely paced. I recommend checking it out, if not in theatres, then definitely on DVD :).