Review: ‘Something Borrowed’

May 13, 2011, 12:35 a.m.
Review: 'Something Borrowed'
Courtesy of Warner Bros.

The new romantic comedy “Something Borrowed” addresses the timeless conflict between friendship and true love. Based on Emily Giffin’s best-selling novel of the same name, “Something Borrowed” follows Rachel (Ginnifer Goodwin) as she untangles the complicated web of her friendship and love life. Though the film can be somewhat confusing because it’s quite compact, this reviewer found it cute, funny and recommendable.

Rachel and Darcy (Kate Hudson) have been best friends their whole lives. Darcy, the consummate drama queen and attention-seeker, has always outshined Rachel in every aspect of life: academics, social life and now an earlier engagement — with the guy that Rachel had a crush on in law school many years ago, Dex (Colin Egglesfield). Rachel would never have dreamed of Dex falling in love with her, then or now. But after she sleeps with her best friend’s fiancé, Rachel finds herself caught in the biggest conundrum of her life. With the support of her other best friend Ethan (John Krasinski), Rachel keeps her disloyalty a secret from Darcy and embarks on her deep, yet hilarious emotional journey.

Several things come together in this movie to make it quite memorable. Being a romcom, it’s jam-packed with lighthearted humor. Ethan’s overly-enthusiastic ex-girlfriend Claire (Ashley Williams) chases him everywhere he goes; Dex’s family friend Marcus (Steve Howey) is an overgrown boy who hits on every girl he sees with his notorious “saving the chipmunk” story. In addition to these two clowns, the film features an abundance of other embarrassing and hilarious moments, including pulling muscles while dancing and a beach badminton game where unfortunate secrets come to light.

The comedy never loses its depth along the way. It tells a compact story filled with true emotional struggle by following several different story lines. Rachel encounters crises all over the place: in her friendships with Darcy and Ethan and in her relationship with Dex. Director Luke Greenfield does a great job of portraying Rachel’s inner conflicts — the audience can really feel Rachel’s pain and anxiety. At the same time, it is clear that she is fettered by her own biases, and the audience watches her grow as a person throughout the film. The characters each have distinct personalities and really come alive under Greenfield’s directing.

This complexity is, at the same time, the film’s Achilles heel. In attempting to present the story in a clear and organized fashion, Greenfield hops between present action and backstory. The movie portrays many small events one after another, leading to a rich but choppy storyline. The monumental till-death-do-we-part love is nowhere to be found — it’s just funny, awkward romance.

But, given that there is never a boring moment in this movie, the audience easily gets hooked. Watching how Rachel and Dex pass over so many chances to truly be together is emotional draining, but then again, that’s what love is all about. If plain and simple romance with some spice and humor is your thing, this movie should definitely be on your list.

Login or create an account

JOIN THE STANFORD DAILY

application deadline
Friday, Oct. 11

Days
Hours
Minutes
Seconds