Showing @ Festival Theatre, Edinburgh, Sun 29 Jun
Simon Helberg, Jocelyn Towne / USA / 2014 / 95 mins
After the disappointing finale of EIFF 2013 (if nothing else, Not Another Happy Ending was at least appropriately titled), it perhaps seems a risky move to sign-off this year’s festival with another romantic comedy. Written by and starring The Big Bang Theory’s Simon Helberg, who also co-helms with his wife Jocelyn Towne, 2014’s offering We’ll Never Have Paris bills itself as being “based on a true story, unfortunately.” And though the film is unlikely to set many viewers’ worlds on fire, it is its moments of truthfulness that see it shift a small step above its predecessor.
Let’s be clear, the film certainly isn’t problem free. Essentially the story of how Quinn (Helberg) accidentally breaks-up with his long-time girlfriend, Devon (Melanie Lynskey), after discovering his attractive co-worker, Kelsey (Maggie Grace), is infatuated with him, our protagonist is introduced far too briefly to draw much initial sympathy. Other than possessing the impulses of the archetypal ‘man’, there seems to be little justifying Quinn’s actions – especially when he then pursues relations with Kelsey pretty much immediately. Further, though Lynskey makes a charming and refreshingly normal female match for Helberg, the portrayal of women remains off-balance, many of them seemingly powerless to resist Quinn, despite his obvious flaws.
Yet there is some fun to be had here and, thankfully, it’s mostly at Quinn’s expense. Penned and played as something of a ‘Woody Allen-lite’, his cluelessness toward both relationships and single life is enjoyably self-deprecating. Speaking to his friend Jameson (an underused Zachary Quinto) in one scene, he protests: “You’re just not aware of your looks. I’m aware of my looks. They’re not good.” Meanwhile, another sequence sees him told to enjoy his newfound freedom, something that is immediately followed up by a cut to him solemnly supping whisky and questioning: “What do people do?!”
Most noteworthy, though, is the chemistry between Helberg and Lynskey. Tapping into something many entries in the genre often miss, their characters’ abilities to simply make each other smile, even when relations are fraught, captures the idea of love far more realistically than any grand gesture.
Showing as part of Edinburgh International Film Festival 2014