Review: How to Be Single
How to Be Single revolves around four women who navigate the Manhattan dating scene, philosophising and cracking wise through a series of one-night stands, friendships with benefits, and wonky relationships. If it sounds all too familiar, it's because this R-rated romp is based on the first novel by Liz Tuccillo, who was both writer and story editor for HBO's Sex and the City.
Directed by Christian Ditter and adapted from Tuccillo's novel by Abby Kohn, Marc Silverstein and Dana Fox, How to Be Single begins with Alice (Dakota Johnson), who wants to experience life on her own before settling down with college boyfriend Josh (Nicholas Braun). Josh doesn't understand why they need to have a temporary break from one another - can't she just sleep with one of his friends to get this idea out of her head, he jokes - but she wants to be able to live alone with herself and learn to do things on her own after spending all of her life being cared for, first by her parents and then by Josh.
She heads to New York where she crashes on the couch of big sister Meg (Leslie Mann), an obstetrician who encourages Alice to stop worrying about her romantic travails and prioritise her professional ambitions. Freewheeling co-worker Robin (Rebel Wilson), on the other hand, insists Alice take full advantage of her singlehood by partying and getting drunk until daybreak and finding her inner goddess with the smorgasbord of men the city has to offer. Robin literally pushes Alice into the arms of Tom (Anders Holm), a bartender and committed bachelor who schools Alice in the ways of casual sex and avoiding long-term commitments.
Tom also offers the same counsel to Lucy (Alison Brie), whose mission to find a man to marry involves dating websites, Excel spreadsheets and analysing algorithms. Brie is ever delightful and Lucy's breakdown during a children's book reading is one of the highlights of the film, but Lucy is a glaring example of how the filmmakers stuff the film with unnecessary characters. Yes, Lucy's obsessive desperation falls under the film's thematic umbrella but she has no direct connection to Alice, Meg or Robin, and so her exploits feel out of place and given more attention than they warrant. The same can be said for Damon Wayans Jr.'s David, a single dad who sparks with Alice. Mild drama is brewed about the protective walls he's built after the death of his wife, but there's no real follow through.
The focus on these secondary and tertiary characters wouldn't be so bothersome if they didn't detract from the more interesting and often more hilarious tales of the main players, particularly Mann's storyline with Jake Lacy. The happily childless Meg predictably wants to be a mother after being conquered by one of her patient's babies. Just as she becomes pregnant via a sperm donor, she's ardently pursued by the much-younger Ken (Jake Lacy). Mann and Lacy have such winning chemistry and impeccable comic delivery that they easily overcome the more formulaic beats of their particular narrative.
Johnson proves herself to be an awkwardly charming presence and a perfect foil for the unstoppable Wilson who, unsurprisingly, tosses off many of the film's funniest lines. Of the hit-it-and-quit-it Tom: "He's a palate cleanser, a sexual sorbet." Of Alice's nether regions: "It's like you dropped your hairbrush and your vagina caught it. I could make dreadlocks with that bush and form a reggae band."
While it never genuinely explores its titular premise, How to Be Single is nevertheless a solid effort with a great deal of laugh out loud moments and a terrific cast.
How to Be Single
Directed by: Christian Ditter
Written by: Abby Kohn, Marc Silverstein, Dana Fox; based on the novel by Liz Tuccillo
Starring: Dakota Johnson, Rebel Wilson, Leslie Mann, Damon Wayans Jr., Anders Holm, Alison Brie, Nicholas Braun, Jake Lacy, Jason Mantzoukas
