Overview
In How To Be Single, paralegal Alice (Dakota Johnson) complains about all the things she said she'd do but hasn't. Everyone in the audience can surely relate; actually, as they're watching her dating exploits, they're witnessing that very idea in action. At the outset, the screen adaptation of Liz Tuccillo's novel declares that it won't tell the usual relationship-focused story. That statement proves more aspirational than accurate, with the author's background — co-writing self-help book He's Just Not That into You, as well as penning episodes of Sex and the City — giving you a hint of what to expect.
While this Christian Ditter-directed effort might not focus on a typical boy-meets-girl narrative, that doesn't keep the feature out of predictable territory. Following in the footsteps of every other film and TV show about being uncoupled, How To Be Single delves into the moments in-between the love, lust and living happily ever after. More than one woman attempts to accept their amorous lot in life, and learns a few lessons in the process. The idea of forging an identity without a partner is championed, all while the movie's characters keep talking about the guys — or lack thereof — that they're chasing.
Cue a New York tale about Alice, her doctor sister Meg (Leslie Mann) and new best friend Robin (Rebel Wilson) — as well as the marriage-obsessed Lucy (Alison Brie), who frequents the same bar. Alice is on a break from her long-term boyfriend, though the heavy-partying Robin encourages her to make the most of her unattached time, particularly when that hiatus becomes permanent. After spending years delivering other people’s babies, Meg finally realises that she wants one of her own. Lucy, meanwhile, has dedicated the last six months to devising an algorithm to help her get the most out of online dating, with little success so far.
The journey each character goes on — espousing the joys of going solo while traversing casual flings and potential serious connections — is far from surprising. Nor is the long list of men — a commitment-phobic bartender (Anders Holm) and protective single dad (Damon Wayans Jr.) among them — that pop up along the way. Indeed, when it comes to chronicling the trials and tribulations of modern dating, How To Be Single thinks that saying it is different is enough. And yet while it fails to follow through on that promise, it approaches the typical clichés of its genre with the energy needed to make them entertaining.
In fact, packaging up been-there, seen-that stories and passing them off as a twist on standard chick flick fare proves less trying than it sounds, largely thanks to the film's cast. As he did with the less successful Love, Rosie, director Ditter not only shows an affinity for romantic comedy conventions, but for getting the most out of his actors. If the film's biggest downfall is its false assertion that it doesn't fit the expected formula, then its biggest asset is how its talent weathers the routine material they're saddled with. Yes, you've seen all this before, and no, none of it is particularly memorable. But at least Johnson, Wilson, Mann, Brie and company use their charms to keep things lively.
