I remember when What If came out an eternity ago and I really wanted to see it because I was in a post-Harry Potter Daniel Radcliffe crush period, but for a reason I don't recall I skipped it. The Radcliffe crush is over now, but I do have a crush on Adam Driver and Mackenzie Davis at the moment, and I really like Zoe Kazan, so I finally checked it out.
The story follows Wallace (Daniel Radcliffe), a medical school dropout who is not very good at relationships and decides to put his love life on hold while everyone around him is finding the perfect partner. One night at a party though, he instantly bonds with Chantry (Zoe Kazan) and falls for her. Unfortunately, she already is in a serious relationship with Ben (Rafe Spall), and she just wants them to be friends.
My biggest fear going into What If was that it would be a predictable and clichéd romantic comedy that questions whether a man and a woman can be just friends, and, unfortunately, that's exactly how it was. A rather unoriginal and dull story.
The characters didn't work much better for me either. While Wallace and Chantry are both lovable in their awkwardness, they still are pretty shallow and one-dimensional, and there's something kind of unlikeable about them, especially about Chantry, and I couldn't really care for them. Same goes with the supporting characters, they are too plain, bland, and come off as cardboard and unlikeable and annoying.
The cast, on the other hand, does a pretty good job and it's about What If's only saving grace. Despite they all are given very little to do, Daniel Radcliffe brings his dry humour to the film and plays Wallace in a way that it's not (too) annoying —he's not as good as he's in Swiss Army Man though—, Koe Kazan is so charming and sweet you can't help but fall in love with Chantry, even though I did not like the character at all, and they have nice chemistry. It's the supporting cast though that steals the show as Adam Driver and Mackenzie Davis easily give the funniest performances.
Ultimately, What If felt like a huge waste of potential to me.
My biggest fear going into What If was that it would be a predictable and clichéd romantic comedy that questions whether a man and a woman can be just friends, and, unfortunately, that's exactly how it was. A rather unoriginal and dull story.
The characters didn't work much better for me either. While Wallace and Chantry are both lovable in their awkwardness, they still are pretty shallow and one-dimensional, and there's something kind of unlikeable about them, especially about Chantry, and I couldn't really care for them. Same goes with the supporting characters, they are too plain, bland, and come off as cardboard and unlikeable and annoying.
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| Entertainment One |
The cast, on the other hand, does a pretty good job and it's about What If's only saving grace. Despite they all are given very little to do, Daniel Radcliffe brings his dry humour to the film and plays Wallace in a way that it's not (too) annoying —he's not as good as he's in Swiss Army Man though—, Koe Kazan is so charming and sweet you can't help but fall in love with Chantry, even though I did not like the character at all, and they have nice chemistry. It's the supporting cast though that steals the show as Adam Driver and Mackenzie Davis easily give the funniest performances.
Ultimately, What If felt like a huge waste of potential to me.
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