How To Be Single Review
How to Be Single is an atypical romantic comedy with a feminist slant. We follow the life of the main character Alice (Dakota Johnson) as she makes the transition from college to New York.
Alice’s doe eyed expressions coupled with typical expectations of what romantic comedies usually prescribe provided copious surprises and cheap laughs. Many a laugh can be attributed to Alice’s sidekick Robin (Rebel Wilson). Notorious for her gag sense of humour Robin takes Alice under her wing to expose her to what the big smoke has to offer her… in terms of men.
This movie definitely has a social message in relation to modern day dating. We are exposed to several characters throughout the film that depict the modern dating game. From relying on algorithms to find a partner, to buying donor sperm because we no longer need a man to have a baby, to sexual liberation of woman in a city taking a no strings attached approach to sex, this movie covers all the bases.
There are still plenty of ‘will they or wont they?’ moments throughout the film. In Alice’s sexual escapade we are left wondering after every one night-stand or date, ‘is this the one she ends up with’? Praying that she doesn’t go back to her college sweetheart Josh (Nicolas Braun). There is one scene in the film, Alice’s birthday, where Robin invites all of Alice’s recent toy boys and ex to her birthday party, just because she ‘thought it would be funny’. Unconventionally the night ends with her alone, after watching her single sister give birth to her donor baby.
Alice’s search comes to a halt towards the end of the film after having a falling out with Robin. She begins to become an empowered woman, no longer on the hunt for men, rather training to climb the Grand Canyon. She even builds a contraption that is able to unzip her dress, that’s right men, woman can build too, we no longer need you.
At the end of the film we are left wanting people to end up together, who inevitably don’t, we are exposed to a serious side of Robin that we didn’t know she had, and Alice is still single. It’s not all doom and gloom though. She managed to climb up the Grand Canyon, reassuring us as an audience that she was going to be ok, even though she was still single.
The social message this movie was aiming to portray was not overshadowed by the punchy one-liners throughout. In fact that may be what made the movie and all it’s radical empowered messages endearing.
I rate this movie a 6/10.
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