Delayed Reaction: What If

The Pitch: Blue balls: The movie.

A single man and a woman with a long-term boyfriend try to prove that they can maintain a platonic relationship.

I've seen this movie before even if I haven't technically seen this exact movie before. I don't think there's a single new idea in it. It's like someone wanted to make When Harry Met Sally but without the grand mission statement, then set it in Toronto. I could probably come up with a dozen movies with nearly identical plots.

...And I don't give a damn. I really liked this movie. People tend to forget that there's two main measures to judge a movie: inventiveness and execution. Inventive movies, movies that are original and do or say something that hasn't be done or said before, are more likely to make "greatest movies" lists, but there's absolutely nothing wrong with the other type of movie, one that knows exactly what it is and executes that well. What If is the latter type of movie and a pretty good one. It's big, baked-in problem is that if you are not a fan of this type of movie, there's nothing about it to change your mind.

Since seeing The Big Sick, I've wanted to fix my Zoe Kazan blindspot. I've somehow missed the movies that she's prominent in or forgotten her in the films of hers I have  seen. However, she's been in a number of films I think I'd like and haven't for some reason. She and Daniel Radcliffe (who has been fascinating to keep track of post-Harry Potter, by the way) are delightful together. I enjoy their dark sense of humor. Mackenzie Davis and Adam Driver in key supporting roles is a big plus. This movie has no business having a sad ending, so I'm glad they didn't overthink it and let it be happy.

I don't know. I doubt I'll be able to recall a single detail from the movie a few months from now but I'll be happy to watch it again if an opportunity presents itself. We all need movies like that.

Verdict (?): Weakly Recommend