Strong and Moving!

Highly Overrated But Still Good

Good movie but grossly overrated

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

I really wanted to like and enjoy this movie, but it's just not terribly good, all in all. I liked pretty much all the actors, and would like to see them in other, better movies. (I'd particularly like to see the actress playing *I think* Karen, Maura's sister or close friend; her character gets somewhat dropped in the course of the movie.) This movie was just so disjointed and ridiculous; disjointed and ridiculous is not a deal-breaker for me, but it has to work, and this just didn't. One indication of how negative an impression this made on me is reflected in what I just wrote in the message section: The element that most stood out for me in this middling little movie was the ridiculous inconsistency of the hair on Sally Hawkins' head. I'm not one of those people who generally notice goofs and screw-ups in continuity, but this was so 'in your face,' even I couldn't miss it.Even within many little scenes, from shot to shot, her hairstyle changes. Sometimes it's fairly natural looking, with a part on her left side, the bangs falling in a few segments, and the entire shape not terribly big; sometimes it's kind of like that, but with a slightly larger shape, probably from teasing yielding a bit more 'lift'; sometimes it's kind of like that, but the hair darker and more smoothed, sometimes with the bangs all sticking together in one piece; sometimes there's no part at all; and there's one point (while Maura and Freddy are outside looking for Molly, who ends up being up in a tree) where the hair appears to be a helmet-y, yucky looking wig (no part there, either).It got to be really annoying; couldn't help wondering why no one could be bothered trying to keep any kind of continuity in that element. In that scene where she particularly seems to be wearing a wig, I was taken out of the story again, wondering if these shots were filmed much later than the rest, and maybe Sally H. had cut all her hair off, so they had to use a wig and didn't have time to get a good one, and get it styled right. Just so sloppy (kind of like the run-on sentence I just typed). Too bad, but at least it's not a great movie otherwise either, in which case it would have been a real shame.

I rented this last night to watch with my partner and mother-in-law.It is utter rubbish. From the corny music, to the very poorly executed 'comedy of errors' acting/editing, to the completely disengaging male lead (he spends a good deal of the film sighing and fumbling for words, but not in a well timed way) this film is completely egregious from beginning until about 20 minutes in when we turned it off and watched 'Everybody's Fine' instead (which by the way, is amazing). We rented this from our Apple TV, and at one point I did consider penning an email to Steve Jobs to outline my disgust at it being added to the line-up on there.

I rented 'Happy ever afters' as a wild card DVD to watch with my wife. I was expecting a "Genuine, Laugh out Loud comedy", that's what the DVD jacket promised anyway. To say I was disappointed would be a massive understatement. In short this is the story of two separate and simultaneous weddings, sharing the same reception venue. The venue being the Hotel Napoleon (and not a restaurant as one reviewer reported). On one hand we have Freddie (Tom Riley) and Sophie (Jade Yourell) who are inexplicably getting remarried in a Catholic church following their (unexplained) divorce, on the other we have Maura (Sally Hawkins) marrying Wilson (Ariyon Bakare).. The latter being a marriage of paid convenience to keep Wilson from being deported. (Not Wilfred as the same myopic reviewer above stated)What unfolds is a tortuous non-plot acted out (and I use the term loosely) by disengaged, chemically incompatible actors. The premise of any good story is that you love, hate or empathise with the characters. With the exception of Molly (Sinead Maguire) playing Maura's daughter and Dessie (Simon Delaney) playing I'm not sure who, but doing it well anyway. I couldn't have cared less about anybody in this film. Even a free Bar wouldn't have kept me at this wedding!

Why not 10 out of 10. Well, I reserve 10 for the most exceptional movies, ones that I *must* buy and rewatch frequently and simply adore. This one is just below that level. It's great and funny and full of typical wonderful Irish farce and humour, and I shall definitely buy it eventually as it's very rewatchable.Everyone acts perfectly. The many moments of farce are to treasure but it's consistently funny and often moving. Sally Hawkins and the youngster who plays her determinedly wilful under-teen daughter stand out in a cast that stands out anyway. There are some surprises along the way - I was certainly caught out by the main one and I'll bet many others will be.It's two weddings on the same day, with the reception at the same hotel. Unfortunately, the hotel had double-booked which causes quite a bit of chaos and some truly crazy events that ensue just have to be seen to be believed. Yet what's so clever is it's all eminently believable and all results from one unfortunate moment.This is a major spoiler as it gives away the ending .........I love the moment at the end when Sally Hawkins' character says to her delightfully interfering daughter, "He's a bit of a loony, but......" Oh yes! Aren't they just going to be perfect together, and the daughter knew it all along of course.