What If (9/10)

by Tony Medley

Runtime 97 minutes.

OK for children.

Sitting through this movie I wondered if I had gone through a time warp to a land that once was but is no more, a time before Judd Apatow and Will Ferrell and the nincompoops who have spent their entire careers in an attempt to kill comedy as we knew it in the 20^th century and substitute crudity, vulgarity, low morals, and a plethora of F-bombs for tasteful, moral humor.

This is a sweet, romantic film that concentrates on a woman who is faithful to her lover and the bind in which she finds herself when she suddenly meets the man who is clearly her soulmate.

Zoe Kazan is rapidly proving herself to be one of the finest actresses on the big screen. She is not Amy Adams beautiful but she has gorgeous, expressive eyes and can convey every emotion known to humankind, even though she often looks like she couldn’t be more than 13 years of age. She sparkled in Ruby Sparks (no pun intended), which she wrote. And she gave a smashing performance playing twins in The Pretty One.

Here she teams with Daniel Radcliffe (who will probably get most of the ink) as the man of her destiny with a sensitive, funny script by Elan Mastai from the play Toothpaste and Cigars by T.J. Dawe & Michel Rinaldi. Kazan and Radcliffe are deftly directed by Michael Dowse who clearly gets the subtlety of the story.

This is a movie in which you have to listen to the dialogue. There is no nudity to distract you. It’s a movie that emphasizes good values, that uses language instead of four-letter words.

This is a poignant, sweet romance that will have you chuckling but that can bring tears to your eyes. It’s a film that should be seen by all tweeners because it shows them what’s involved in love and romance, not just the sex.