Swinging with the Finkels (2011)

Waste of time

It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

The first must-see film of the year.

It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

I guess that sums it up good. Hopefully you don't have bad feelings towards the actors involved (especially Mandy Moore), because you wouldn't be able to like or enjoy the movie otherwise. But Martin Freeman and Moore do have a special chemistry and it works for the purpose of the movie. It's not that you will be cheering at the screen (I'm assuming here), but you will like them.If that is not enough, maybe the decent comedy in place will please you. The theme is an adult one, which although there is not that much going on (explicit wise), the movie is rated R in America. In Germany and other European countries this probably looks different, because it is tame by their standards. A heads up to what you may expect.

Midway through this movie exactly this phrase came to my mind. There are some really lovely moments where (t)his potential shines, something like Hepburn-Grant, wow - oh and the chemistry between the leads should be a little bit better. Yet of course this movie isn't a screwball and if you expect a lot of swinging, you'd be disappointed as well. The gags were foreseeable and all I felt was an air of compulsiveness, as regards marriage, sex etc. When Peter (Jonathan Silverman) mentions that he misses the fighting and nagging, this subsumed exactly my feelings about the script.So please, please, if anybody reads this do me a favour and have Martin Freeman do a real screwball comedy, for I fear he would be excellent - just the right timing. The 6 out of ten is for the acting!

I really enjoyed this film. It has some very funny moments including a great scene with Melissa George and another brilliant set piece with Mandy Moore. As far as romcoms go, I thought this had something to say about modern relationships and I certainly related to the idea of a stale marriage! Good performances from Freeman and Moore and a scene stealing cameo from Angus Deayton. Overall, this is very watchable.Compared to some of the bad romcoms we get fed from America, this stands out as an original, fresh, funny movie and does what it says on the tin... Entertains for 90 minutes... And it's British too! Hooray for British film!

I take my hat off to Jonathan Newman for making a British film that isn't all doom and gloom. There are quite a few LOL moments in this movie, not just from the action but from the dialog as well. It has an American feel to it which I like and think is clever as this gives it international appeal. Okay, it's not 100% representative of a real couple living in London but so what? It's a romantic comedy, it's supposed to just entertain you, and that it does. It actually brought a tear to my eye at one point but it was a happy tear, not a sad one. It is just so nice to go and see a British film without leaving the theater completely depressed.