Director: Ben Palmer 

Cast: Lake Bell, Simon Pegg, Rory Kinnear, Ophelia Lovibond, Olivia Williams, Sharon Horgan

Running Time: 88 minutes 

Rating: 15

Release Date: 29th May 2015 

Unless it has Richard Curtis‘ name stamped all over it, British romantic comedies tend to fall short of spectacular, as they desperately try to live up to the likes of LOVE ACTUALLY, BRIDGET JONES DIARY and NOTTING HILL. Still, many have tried and the latest up to the challenge are THE INBETWEENERS MOVIE director Ben Palmer and THE LOVE PUNCH writer Tess Morris, with the cool and quirky MAN UP starring American actress Lake Bell and Britain’s finest Simon Pegg. 

Donning an impressive British accent, Bell plays thirty-four year old Nancy; a slightly neurotic, exceptionally sarcastic and generally likable journalist whose social awkwardness has stunted her growth in the dating game. Four years single, Nancy is on her way to her parents wedding anniversary when she’s accidentally mistaken for a stranger’s blind date. Said stranger turns out to be handsome forty year old Jack (Pegg), who seems pretty delighted when Nancy decides to take her chances and adopt a new persona in order to bag a date for herself. The two of them quickly gel into first date flirtations until Nancy’s con is busted and it quickly turns into the first date from hell.

The immediate narrative set up for MAN UP feels a little too far fetched for a British audience, leaning more towards the cheesy, whacky rom-com storyline that American film makes often run with. Still, as audiences settle down into the Southbank location and find themselves at home in a familiar city, Palmer brings the story back down to earth with some quintessentially British ideas of romance and this thing we call love. 

With Palmer well known for his smash hit THE INBETWEENERS MOVIE, it’s easy to see why MAN UP might struggle to find a wider audience pool; with the humour often skirting the lines of grotesque as Nancy divulges her theories of the ‘blowjob paradox’ and such other humorous sexual anecdotes. One would assume then that MAN UP would appeal to a younger, not so shockable audience and yet they’re alienated when ideas of divorce and infidelity are conjured up within the middle of the narrative. Whether this is purely down to the screenplay or influences from Palmer’s own style is uncertain, but it does hinder the film finding a solid audience. 

Still, there are real moments of comedic genius with a show stealing performance from SKYFALL actor Rory Kinnear. Kinnear plays Sean, an obsessed old school friend of Nancy’s who works at the themed bowling-ally that Jack and Nancy find themselves at on their date. With his lust for Nancy still ever present, Sean makes the most of her awkward situation by attempting to lure her into some kind of sensual kiss (he doesn’t mind where), which leads to one hilarious scene in the girls public toilet. Kinnear’s screen presence and comedic timing are brilliant additions to the film’s narrative and aids in creating an enjoyable little side story. 

As for the film’s leading actors, both Bell and Pegg do a fine job at portraying these slightly car crash characters, who bounce off of each others initial awkwardness with ease and humour. Bell actually nails this kind of character with real skill; portraying Nancy as both cool and vulnerable, something that thankfully saves her from being the stereotypical beer guzzling, burger munching single girl that’s more offensive than funny. Luckily with Morris’ writing and Bell’s performance, Nancy is instead tremendously relatable, likable and very sweet. 

As for Nancy’s love interest, Pegg remains one of the UK’s finest British performers with Jack’s sensitive nature and charming humour solidifying his role as the dreamy lead male, while tapping into that traditionally self-depricating, realist British sense of humour that Pegg is so well known for.

With Bell and Pegg doing their very best and the narrative happily plodding along with enough cause and effect to keep it’s audience entertained, the final act of the narrative trips up over itself as it falls into the sickly sweet category that seems to betray its previous themes and style. As Nancy and Jack depart, it all ends with a chase through the streets of London, a gaggle of raving teenagers and a stale speech of love and the past. It’s unclear as to whether these over the top declarations of love are meant to be a satire of the traditional romance conventions, but either way, it doesn’t hold up against the rest of the narrative and unfortunately leads to a lackluster, deflating end to the film. 

Despite the often muddled narrative, Palmer’s MAN UP is a humorous British story of second chances and adventure; with Bell and Pegg proving to be an impressive and sweet duo. Still, the film falls into the same traps so many contemporary British romcom’s find themselves in as much of the cheesy romance hits hard of perhaps a slightly cynical nation of film lovers.  

Verdict

Please follow and like us: