Delayed Reaction: How to Be Single

The Pitch: Four women navigate dating in New York City.

It was never a question of if I would see this movie, only when. Deadpool bumped it out when it was still in theaters, so I settled for HBO. I've liked Dakota Johnson since Ben & Kate, the quickly cancelled but immediately charming FOX series from a couple years ago. Rebel Wilson, when not the center of attention, is a lot of fun on screen (See Pitch Perfect and the sequel). Alison Brie should be headlining movies by now (movies that do better than the very enjoyable Sleeping with Other People, that is). Leslie Mann I've liked for years, but after This is 40 and some inspired work in The Other Woman, I'm excited to see her in any comedy. Even the men of the movie (Damon Wayans Jr, Anders Holm, Jake Lacy, Jason Mantzoukas, Colin Jost) have made the rounds on just about every comedy series over the last 5 years. The story of the movie doesn't even matter as long as I can see those actors play off each other.

The script is credited to the writers of films like He's Just Not That Into You and Valentine's Day* which makes perfect sense. This is, after all, essentially a dating anthology. Everyone fits some broad archetypes and that works. Mann and Lacy are sweet together. Brie and Holm have a nice, non-storybook ending. Nothing was funny or poignant enough to really stick with me, but most things aren't. It's like a Leslye Headland movie with a duller edge.

*And also to a writer for Ben & Kate, which either explains or is the result of Dakota Johnson's presence.

Verdict (?): Weakly Recommend