Man Up

Man Up

We went to the movies last week to see Man Up, a new BBC Films & Studio Canal production.  Starring Simon Pegg and Lake Bell, it was a fun story of a mistaken blind date.    Nancy (Bell), a 34-year-old currently despairing at the state of her love life, is standing under a clock holding a book when she is mistaken for Jack’s set up date (a 40-year-old divorcee expecting to meet a 24-year-old triathlete).  Unable to find the words to correct him, they end up spending the day together.   As the truth slowly emerges, it becomes evident both of them have their own past relationship demons to work through, and both need to look forward not back.

Of course, being a modern comedy, there is some swearing, crassness and a fair bit of alcohol, but not over the top.   We liked it, it’s a classic feel-good movie.   There are strong similarities to movies like Love Actually, which I suspect means means it’s possibly not a great movie to see if you are single and dissatisfied.   Of course like all movies it’s unrealistic – who has that range of emotion and development of feeling over a range of about 8-10 hours?

Having said that it has good acting (I do like Simon Pegg, star of Run, Fat Boy, Run), a fun story and a catchy soundtrack.  A nice way to spend a few hours.