Alright, if you like that sort of thing. It didn't grab me enough to keep me from doing several other things during, and leaving the room repeatedly. As an aroace person, I'd love, just once, to see a movie where a guy and girl really are just friends, and happy that way. It's possible in real life, honest! I mostly stuck with it to the end because I like Dan Radcliffe and Adam Driver.
it can be a 9 but the fact the movie kinda broke its own premise about starting relationship from cheating is kinda cheating the audience
Ah yes, the age-old question of whether you can be friends with someone you're in love with. Which kind of suffering would you rather pick, being friends and having the most amazing time together all the while knowing that you will never be the one for them or to never see them again or feel the joy of their company ever again?
A pretty standard unrequired love story, What If gets by on the sheer charisma of its cast. After committing to a platonic friendship, Wallace and Chantry soon discover that they have deeper feelings for each other but aren’t quite sure how to move forward without risking their friendship. Daniel Radcliffe and Zoe Kazan have good onscreen chemistry and deliver strong performances. Also, the film takes a couple of clever turns that go against the usual tropes of the genre. Still, the plot’s formulaic and predictable from beginning to end. Additionally, there are some odd directing choices that are kind of distracting. While it has a bit of charm to it, overall What If is a by-the-numbers rom-com.
hilarious movie with a lot of heart and cute awkwardness in it
There have been countless movies made about the possibility of men and women being platonic friends. This film takes that question and puts a unique slant on it: can men and women seek friends of the opposite sex when they are in a relationship and make both the friendship and the relationship work? As the movie goes on the central question kind of fades away and I think that is a bit of a shame. I probably would have liked to have seen the movie end a minute earlier with a different ending but that's just me. Kazan and Radcliffe are fantastic together.
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Starts really boring, and ends really predictably, but the middle is fun.
9/10
Zoe Kazan and Daniel Radcliffe’s romantic chemistry is off the charts in this film.
While the major plot points are cliche, the characters are far from it; they’re funny, meaningful, and relevant. It’s an interesting take on the romantic comedy genre to have 2 main characters that the film focuses on perfectly evenly.
It’s not hard to fall in love with Wallace and Chantry in this beautiful character piece.
Just a good movie worths a watch but is too predicatble..Some dialogues were pretty good and perfomances overall ok so i would rate it as 6.9/10
It is a romantic comedy too interesting and entertaining, I had seen it about three years ago and I wanted to relive it, it's one of my favorite movies, I love the character of Allan, it's like that friend who pushes you to do that you do not dare You have to have such a cynical view of love?
Not my favourite genre but I found the movie fresh and intense. I liked.
Wallace has dropped out of medical school due to his girlfriend cheating with a member staff, his most recent heartache in a long line of bad relationships. With his parents dubious past also haunting him he decides he will not bother with love. Soon after he meets Chantry an animator at a party and they seem to gel instantly. Chantry is already in a long term relationship and boyfriend Ben. Despite his early misgivings Wallace and Chantry strike up a strong friendship. Deep down though Wallace begins to wonder if you truly can be just ‘friends’ with a girl without one of you falling in love….
Does that synopsis sound familiar? Anyone old enough to have seen ‘When Harry Met Sally’? This is channelling so strongly from that superior film that anyone who thinks this is an original and different take on romantic comedy has either never seen the Billy Crystal starrer or is too young to have even heard of it.
That’s not to say What If, original titled ‘The F Word’ is not without charm and romantic comedy, it is you have just seen this all, so many times before. In fact, the whole ‘romantic comedy’ genre has become more and more sterile and flabby as the years go by. It is a brave director and actors who come into this arena and hope the ‘freshen thing up a bit’.
Clearly Daniel Radcliffe is determined to shake off his Harry Potter cloak of recognition and this is another diverse film on his cv. He certainly has a friendly charm about him and you can believe he is friends with Zoe Kazan’s character but I never felt the connection of chemistry that said these two loved each other. Too many of the scenes seemed to be leading me by the nose down this alley or that path. For instance, the obligatory ‘falling out with each other and not talking interlude’ seemed utterly contrived and forced, even for a romantic comedy.
I understand to make a modern romantic comedy you are going to follow a certain formula, but when are writers going to realise that not everyone on the planet has a great, interesting, job? One works as an animator, one works for the friggin’ UN and the other is a medical student drop out. No other characters seem to work or have a job that is worthy of talking about. Whilst we’re on the topic, how about the names, Wallace and Chantry, having unusual names does not make you character any more interesting. I find this, in all films, annoying.
The main characters are all fairly well acted and cast, with Adam Driver and his girlfriend/wife to be played by Megan Park, diverting from be running on the amoral, annoying, twerps track onto the ‘they’re okay’ rail. This is a good deviation away from the usual storylines in romantic comedies but the film lets itself down by reverting to so many other tried and tested and ultimately tired romantic comedy clichés.
For instance, why does the existing boyfriend have to be a bit of a-hole, okay he’s not a total one but threatening his girlfriend’s new male friend within minutes of meeting her? How did he hide this psycho side from Chantry for all of these years? If you have a tick list, you would tick most of the clichés off.
Ultimately this is a shame because the film is trying hard to resist falling into the traps it falls into. The ‘chase her across the continents on a plane’ is different but it is in there, and there is the problem and the let-down.
I would say anyone looking for light comedy with likeable performances will not be disappointed but just don’t looking for something different.
Hmmm, haven’t I met you before in different clothes?”
I love this movies about relationships between two people who are social unskilled because they dialogues about how they see the world tends to catch my attention. Even though the characters are normal in a boring way, with some hints of people who would never be friends of mine, they feel so real in their lack of idealistic features that i still want to know what would they do in their situation and that was what sticked me in front of the screen till the obvious end. Simple and lovely. It says its a romantic comedy and thats what you get.
well this is : obnoxious. overrated. dull.
Gave up after 20 minutes.
Very Good to see Daniel Radcliffe Le Amo #nohomo :P
predictable as hell. I knew how it would be the beginning, the middle and the end so it was fair
Horrible boring garbage of a film
We already know that the market for romantic comedies in Hollywood is somewhat saturated, but when it comes to independent romantic comedies there is something that still manages to captivate me about them. Perhaps the fact that they are smaller productions make them more honest and that "indie feeling" in the air seems to make them more realistic. What If is one of those cases.
Wallace just come out of a relationship completely heartbroken. It is not on his intention to fall in love quickly, but at a party he knows the cousin of his best friend, a girl called Chantry and they immediately create a bound between them. The chemistry between the two was absolutely spontaneous but at the end of the night Chantry says that she has a boyfriend.
Although the formula has been used countless times, and the more predictable that the story may be, the plot is well structured, the characters are quite nice and the humor is very intelligent with a lot of charm to the mix. The use of visual animation on the film is very interesting considering that Chantry works in animation, we see all different figures that illustrate the situations in which the characters are in that specific time of the film. The use of indie rock soundtrack goes really well and fits perfectly the atmosphere.
Daniel Radcliffe is increasingly moving away from the role of the famous wizard, Harry Potter. When the saga ended I had my doubts, such a remarkable role in the career of an actor can be something worrying, but what is certain is that Radcliffe has proven to be a good actor and can do other styles. Here in the lead role, he is able to make us believe every attitude and feeling of his character. For his first romcom he did very well. Zoe Kazan is absolutely lovely, a very cute and awkward performance that touches the heart. The chemistry existing between the two actors is remarkable. The supporting cast, Adam Driver, just to name one, were also pretty great.
Despite all the predictability that the story may have, when What If comes to the end it will leave you with a huge smile on your face. Delightful.
Shout by ErebosBlockedParent2024-03-01T22:25:11Z
Cute rom-com but clearly written/directed by (nice) guys, for (nice) guys... It's their ultimate wish-fulfillment fantasy.
I wish the story wasn't so predictable and safe, like by having Wallace ending up with Chantry's sister, Dalia, in a healthy, mutually-supportive relationship, instead of how movies mistake witty banter for romance.