One Day. It Felt A Little Longer Than That

One Day is a structurally unique movie. Before I went to see it, I thought it was going to be a “day in the life” sort of story like Before Sunrise or One Fine Day. But that isn’t it at all. It spans several years in the lives of the main characters, but it depicts the same day every year—July 15. The audience gets sneak peeks into their lives every July 15 from the late 80’s to present day. Looking at life through that pinhole gives a great reality check on how much, yet how little, really changes in the space of a single year.

Ordinarily, I really love slice-of-life stories, but this one’s too fraught with clichéd motivations and a flat female lead character. Y’all know I can't stand no underdeveloped woman. In real life, women are nuanced and complicated. There’s no such thing as a one-note woman and I don’t give male writers a pass on that. Anne Hathaway’s “Emma” is the consummate good-girl and a bit of a judgmental prude. It’s not clear at all what makes her tick or why she shares such a strong connection with Jim Sturgess’ “Dex” character. That’s one of the perils, I suppose, of having such a strict guideline of only depicting one day in each year. You miss every one of the 364 other days that constitute who people are.

And on top of the character being annoying, Anne Hathaway’s accent is atrocious. Worse even than in Becoming Jane. It actually kind of hurts my feelings a little bit to say that because she’s one of my favorite actresses. I just need her to either move to England for a year to pick up the accents and the mannerisms or entirely give up on playing Brits.

The movie is almost a success. It’s almost romantic. It’s almost moving. It’s almost a beautiful quirky British indie film a la Happy Go Lucky or An Education. Unfortunately it falls short on every count. But what rescues the movie from complete disaster is the chemistry between Anne & Jim. You can even feel it just from the poster. Hottest. Poster. Kiss. Ever. Whenever they’re within touching distance, the electricity is palpable and you just want them to grab on to each other and never let go.  I’d love to see the two of them together in a better story. (I got a script all ready to go, you guys. Call me.)

There’s one other thing that makes this movie worth watching. Jim Sturgess is a revelation. His character Dex is deeply flawed, yet highly likable. He’s a trust fund baby with talent and opportunity but lacking in ambition. Granted, all that sounds just as clichéd as Emma’s hard-working, repressed good-girl. But Jim manages to elevate Dex above the familiar. If you haven’t seen him in Across the Universe, you should. It’s rich and beautiful. If, like me, the first time you saw him was when his talent was completely wasted in 21, you should give him another shot. 

Through no fault of Jim’s or of Anne’s, I found myself increasingly pissed off as the movie progressed. This story feeds in to the deep-seated male belief that women exist solely in order to meet one or more of their needs. The good girl spends her entire life and all her emotional energy silently waiting for the cad to finish sowing his wild oats and finally get around to acknowledging her value. I freakin’ hate that. I hate the way most men perceive a woman through the prism of what she can bring to their lives, as though she has no other purpose than whatever usefulness he may find in her. Emma almost escapes this pathetic fate, but then goes for it anyway against all her better judgment. 

At the end of the day, (no pun intended) One Day is a tear-jerking romantic drama. It’s gorgeously photographed in a melancholy bluish tone. It’s an Anne Hathaway movie that involves no royalty, so you know it’s not going to have a Hollywood resolution, but it does end with a life- and love-affirming conclusion.