Film Reviews 1: What’s Your Number and Last Holiday

Okay, okay, so anyone who knows me will know that, as embarrassing as it is, I am a fan of 90s and early to mid 2000s romantic comedies! Silly, fun, and cliche – they’re a guilty pleasure of mine! Recently I’ve been struggling a bit to cope with not being able to concentrate, perhaps due to a combination of (autism related) burnout, and eating disorder related lack of energy, and so I found myself, a couple weekends ago, googling ‘recommended romcoms’. This wonderful procrastination escapade led me to discover two brilliant films, which I decided to share with you today: What’s Your Number, a 2011 American romcom starring Anna Faris and Chris Evans, and Last Holiday, which was released in 2006 and stars Queen Latifah!

What’s Your Number (2011)

Plot Summary: Ally Darling hits a low point when her boyfriend breaks up with her, and she loses her job. After reading an article in a magazine which states that women who have more than 20 lovers have difficulties finding a husband, she realises she has had 19 lovers, and vows to not have sex until she finds ‘the one’. She worries when she discovers that, after getting drunk, she has slept with her ex-boss, and decides to track down all her exes to find the man she wants to marry (to avoid going over the magical 20 lovers). Comedy ensues as she attempts to contact each of her previous relations, and spark up romance with them, all while being aided by her neighbour Colin, who is a serial dater and one-nighter. Things continue to go wrong, and then Ally discovers Colin withheld one of her previous lover’s numbers in case they did work out. They argue and part ways, and Ally contacts, then dates, Jake. Everything seems to go well, though she has to ‘put on’ a certain personality to romance Jake, but at the end of the film, she realises her true feelings lie with someone who accepts her for who she is and all her faults – Colin! When she wakes up with Colin the next morning, she gets a call from an old lover saying they never actually slept together – thus Colin is her number 20, and Ally cheers!

What  I Think About the Film: In terms of the actual film – well, it draws you instantly, with easy laughs and humour, and generally likeable characters. Anna Faris and Chris Evans are both great actors, who seem to make the lines feel realistic rather than cheesy, and bring depth to their respective roles. You’re instantly hooked into a plot that is incredibly predictable, because you want to see these two end up together. You WANT to see Faris continually fail to find love with all these people who just aren’t right for her. You WANT to see Evans slowly fall for her, and you WANT to feel smug when Faris discovers Evans’ hiding of Jake’s number, because you already knew he’d done it, and because you know that Evans is really the one for her, she just doesn’t know it yet. 

Also, even if the film is very predictable, it’s paced well, and nothing feels either rushed, or too slow. I think there’s something beautiful about simplicity done to near perfection, so I’m defending this film on such merits!

What I Got From the Film: What’s Your Number’s message is something about loving yourself and being true to who you are, and you can’t ask for a more wholesome, heartwarming message. Genuinely, watching the film made me reflect on myself and really, my sense of self worth. Relationships have played a big part in my mental health – being autistic I’ve found it difficult to understand who I am, and historically have looked to others to shape me. During my tween and teen years I was very much a ‘follower’, and had no idea what my personality ‘was’. I adopted the identity of being ‘anorexic’ partly to try and solve this.

Similarly, I have relied on others to determine my worth, and I’m sure many others relate to this. My friend Vera describes it as ‘external validation’. I fundamentally don’t believe I am good enough for the world and to exist, and so I look to others to tell me I am. I remember how one of my favourite things about being in eating disorder units was getting praise for eating. One of my happiest moments was when a nurse described me as a ‘star pupil’ because I ate all my food without any eating disorder behaviours or prompts, and when a different nurse remarked how I had moved up the ‘table system’ the fastest she’d ‘ever seen’. I thrived off of the compliments of others, and so eating disorder units became a very attractive place for me. It was much easier to eat than to face the pressure of school and exams and unpredictability.

Anyway, this film reminded me to love me for me, and that I need to have confidence in who I am, rather than change myself for others. I don’t need to become the person any friend or romantic partner or even family member wants me to be. It’s fine for me to be quirky and to be rubbish at drying my hair and to eat lots of cereal, and actually, it’s even fine for me to struggle with hand washing and walking rituals. I shouldn’t feel ashamed. For years I’ve tried to hide all my problems from people, believing that if they knew I had a problem with compulsive exercising, for example, they would never want to be associated with me. 

I am who I am. I am a work in progress. And that’s fine.

Overall Rating: 6 Sunflowers out of 10!

Box Office: It did reasonably well – grossed $14 million in the U.S. and Canada and $16.4 million in other territories, for a total gross of $30.4 million against a budget of $20 million. Finished 8th at the box office. 

Critical Reception: Had very negative reviews, but to be fair it is a very predictable romcom – I don’t think that’s a bad thing though! 

Last Holiday (2006)

Plot Summary: Georgia Byrd is a shy salesperson in a cookware department, and Baptist choir singer, who longs to cook professionally. She bumps her head, has a CT scan, and is told that she is suffering from a rare terminal disease, which, due to the cost of the operation, means she has only a few weeks to live. When she discovers this she decides to quit her job, liquidate her assets, and go on one last dream vacation (hence the title of the film!). 

Georgia checks into an extremely expensive hotel, buys fancy clothes, and has many crazy adventures (like snowboarding and BASE jumping off a dam), all while irritating the arrogant owner of the company she used to work for. She impresses the staff and guests at the hotel despite not being as classy or from a wealthy background. Her kindness, humour, honesty and boldness are refreshing and bring joy to the lives of the people she encounters, who seem stuck in a society so focused on looking impressive and portraying superiority. She even befriends a world renowned chef, and wins  fortune playing in a casino!

The plot hits it’s climax when the company owner finds out who she is and reveals her identity, all while a man called Sean from ‘back home’, who has found out about Georgia’s diagnosis, is rushing to tell her his feelings, but is blocked by snowdrift. 

However, the company owner is abandoned by his previous friends, who don’t care about the big reveal. He sits on a window ledge, contemplating suicide, and Georgia tries to talk him down, suggesting he try to enjoy life and be happy over being greedy and being part of the endless chase for more, which seems to drive our world.

At the end of the film, it is revealed that the doctor who diagnosed Georgia was wrong, and that she isn’t going to die at all – everyone cheers at this revelation, and Georgia becomes determined to finally live the life she has always wanted but was previously too afraid to try and live. She opens her own restaurant, and her and Sean become a couple. The people Georgia met during her holiday similarly pursue their dreams!

What  I Think About the Film: This film was honestly a feel-good film I won’t forget, and much less romance based than other typical romcoms! Latifah is SUCH a brilliant actress, who really ‘makes’ the film. She brings the humour and her presence makes you smile before she even delivers her lines, which she always does with conviction. Even the stereotypical characters, some of whom are played quite poorly, are brought to life next to her. Admittedly the reveal of the film is obvious really from the outset – of course she isn’t really dying – and most of the events at the hotel are rather ridiculous (in reality I sadly don’t think it’d be quite to easy to assimilate, and rise up the ranks, of a group of political and corporate figures), but Latifah makes it all somehow seem plausible enough to stop you questioning it. Instead, you just laugh along and smile as her character, Georgia, finally lives the life and does the things she’s always wanted – and quietly you wish you could do the same! 

I’m normally not a fan of films that are over the top, but I swear, somehow this film gets away with it!

What I Got From the Film: By the time this film had reached it’s conclusion, I was feeling both slightly suicidal and determined to change my life, which is a lot to take from such a lighthearted film! I think I felt sad that, at the age of 23, I have ‘wasted’ much of my life being afraid of living, and instead hiding behind food rules and numbers and the safety of my eating disorder. I have been so afraid of letting myself just be, and have constantly hidden myself away, feeling small and inadequate and unworthy of anyone’s time. There’s been so many things I’ve wanted to do – and it makes me laugh, because a lot of these things, to most people, are so small and ‘commonplace’. Do you know how much I dream of just getting a big ice cream and demolishing it without a thought, or of digging into a fish finger sandwich, at lunchtime (I struggle to eat during the day)!!? I dream of letting myself sleep – of having a LIE in because I’m so tired all the time. I do have bigger dreams, too though – like of going on holiday! Traveling and experiencing cultures! 

I feel angry at myself for not LIVING, for not ENJOYING myself. Why do I find it so hard? 

I suppose I could’ve ended up spiralling downwards with all of these thoughts, but maybe it was Latifah’s beautiful smile and plucky personality as she proudly stood outside her own restaurant at the end, finally a chef, because I also felt an urge to not look back but look forward, and start crafting the life I want for myself. Studying philosophy over the last few months made me similarly reflect, actually. Your life, at the end of the day, will come and go. You live and you die, and you can either choose to be happy and make yourself happy, or you can constantly push yourself and measure yourself against the standards of others. But when you die, if they’re happy or impressed or whatever, and you aren’t…what was the point?

I want to start living and just making myself happy, even if it’s doing things that others don’t think are as good or as impressive, or whatever. 

Last Holiday: literally teaching you the same thing as months of reading the history of Western, and Eastern philosophies.Ish! 

Overall Rating: 8 Sunflowers out of 10!

Box Office: Did terribly! The film grossed $43.3 million against a budget of $45 million.

Critical Reception: Mixed; generally negative, but there was universal praise for Latifah’s performance.

I hope you enjoyed these reviews, and if you have some freetime – give these films a go!