Can
you say “Groundhog Day” (1993) on steroids - with a side injection of “Mean
Girls” (2014)? Seriously, the movie began just the same way. Zoey Deutch as
Samantha Kingston (“Goosebumps” 2015) is one of four mean, teenage girls. She
awakes every day only to discover nothing has changed. No matter what she does
after realizing her fate, she wakes up at the same time, to the same tune
playing on her android device - just reliving the same day over and over.
But
that is where the similarities end. From having everything to having nothing
happens after one fateful night. Kingston wakes up that first time and begins
to question just how perfect her life really is. Trapped, she begins to
untangle the mystery of a life suddenly derailed; at the same time revealing secrets
of the people closest to her. She discovers the power of a single day that can
make a difference, not just in her own life, but in the lives of those around
her. Time is on her side but not for long.
Director
Ry Russo Young (“Nobody Walks” 2012) has taken author Lauren Oliver’s first
person narrative and brought the pages to life. However it is short lived. This
isn’t a bad movie; it is just one that I felt could have been better. While
there were four teenagers involved in the mean girl sub-plot, only two of them
managed to be believable. That was, I think, due to the fact that Halston Sage
and Logan Miller previously worked together in “Scouts Guide to the Zombie
Apocalypse” (2015) where Sage played the older sister to Miller.
There
are moments in the film that I found wasteful but - I never checked my watch so
they are short. The acting was on par for the most part but as always, there
are exceptions. The recipient of the bullying from the mean girls, Juliet, was
portrayed by Elena Kampouris (“My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2” 2016). Although her
dialog was limited, it was her delivery accompanied by precise body language that
impressed. It actually made me feel sorry for her.
No comments:
Post a Comment