Catching Up on 2015: Josh Reviews Man Up
Nancy (Lake Bell) is a single thirty-something who wants to find love but who, after a string of failed blind dates, is reluctant to continue putting herself out there. But when a miscommunication results in Jack (Simon Pegg)’s mistaking her for the woman with whom he has been set up, Nancy decides to go with it and pretend to be his date. The crazy evening that unfolds just might wind up changing both of their lives.
I generally dislike romantic comedies. But I love Simon Pegg, and Lake Bell’s magnificent In a World… (which Ms. Bell wrote, directed, starred in, and produced) made me a huge fan of hers forever. So I was interested in this film which paired the two together.
Mr. Pegg and Ms. Bell are as terrific a pairing as I’d have imagined, and when Man Up works it works because of their great chemistry and comedic energy. Watching these two bounce off of one another is a hoot. They each have several very, very funny sequences in the film.
Simon Pegg plays more of a straight man to Ms. Bell’s wacky, neurotic Nancy, but the film still gives Mr. Pegg plenty of opportunities to cut loose and steal scenes. Ms. Bell, meanwhile, is a riot. She’s a great physical comedian and the film gives her a number of chances to shine.
I must confess that I was somewhat surprised that Ms. Bell, and American, played the entire movie in a British accent. I guess British actors and actresses play entire movies in American accents all the time, and Ms. Bell certainly has a knack for putting on voices. (Something showcased to great success in In a World…) But I’m so used to Ms. Bell’s American voice that, in the opening scenes, I thought her character was putting on a fake British accent as a joke! I kept waiting for her to drop the “fake” accent, but that never came.
Several familiar — and great — British actors pop up in supporting roles. Rory Kinnear (familiar as Tanner from the recent James Bond films, and also unforgettable from his role as the British Prime Minister in the first episode of Black Mirror) gets to cut loose and got crazy. Olivia Williams (Rushmore) and Ken Stott (Balin from The Hobbit trilogy) are also fun to see.
One of the reasons that I generally dislike romantic comedies is that I have little patience for the outlandish plot twists in which characters engage in lengthy misunderstandings/miscommunications (usually because one character is flat out lying to another for most of the movie) and otherwise behave in ways that most normal human beings would never do. Man Up is very guilty of that sort of thing, and there were many times in which I was rolling my eyes at the movie. I wish the film had curbed the wacky romantic comedy hi-jinks and allowed Ms. Bell and Mr. Pegg to play slightly more realistic, normal characters. But while my patience was often stretched by the film, I still enjoyed it, mostly because Ms. Bell and Mr. Pegg are so endearing and so funny together.
Man Up is not a great film. It’s hindered by too many romantic comedy contrivances. But it is a very funny film, and one worth seeing for Mr. Pegg and Ms. Bell. I enjoyed it quite a bit.