Love at First Hiccup (2009)

Admirable film.

Absolutely the worst movie.

Very interesting film. Was caught on the premise when seeing the trailer but unsure as to what the outcome would be for the showing. As it turns out, it was a very good film.

It's funny watching the elements come together in this complicated scam. On one hand, the set-up isn't quite as complex as it seems, but there's an easy sense of fun in every exchange.

Being Danish and having grown up with the original version, which was very popular at a time, I was kind of looking forward to this American version, as they tend to be a lot better than the movies produced in Denmark. But after seeing it, the only thing a felt was disappointment. The characters seemed to young and it just didn't seem to have the same wow-effect as the one I remembered from the Danish version. Basically everything about this movie seemed wrong, besides the young age of the characters, everything you love about them has been changed. Any a is not the same confident girl that I expected and victors brother, just seem vulgar instead of somewhat charming and so on. Just the Small things that made the original movie great, has been changed in a way that do not work very well. This was a big let down.

Love At First Hiccup seemed like a very good movie when I saw the trailers for it. It seemed like it would be like a classic, wholesome family movie, specifically generated for kids. Unfortunately I was wrong. This movie has all the right things in all the wrong places. The pacing is horribly sporadic, the acting is harshly unforgiving, the filming looks like it was done by the two kids in the movie who -are- filming a movie, and it seeed that they could never figure out who their intended target was, and ended up alienating all except those who enjoy awkward and perverse humor, The trailers made it seem like a kids movie, it was overly vulgar, with way too much reference to sexual activity, and acceptance of it as a culturally acceptable past time...This is officially not a kids movie. I don't remember laughing even once during this entire movie. If the main character had acted the same way he did in his Nickelodeon TV show, I think it actually could have been kind of cute. Unfortunately, he did not, instead making every scene he was in awkward, which, occasionally is OK as it was an intentional thing, but every scene, even when he is with his friends is just ridiculous and doesn't make him seem cute so much as simply annoying. None of the characters had any appeal to them AT ALL, and some of the 'humor' relied too much on people's stupidity for even a kid to think 'Ooh that's realistic and funny because they didn't notice what was right in front of their faces or look to the side for a moment since no character in this movie has any peripheral vision..' All in all, this movie was a chore to watch,and I would have graded it lower, but I figured I'd give it a little bit of credit for being like any gruesome train wreck and not letting me take my eyes away until the end, and I will admit that it did have a few cute moments.

Love at First Hiccup a truly a harmless and enjoyable film. The cast is lively, the script hits almost all the right notes, and the plot works for the most part, though sometimes becoming hokey and unbelievable. For a Direct-to-DVD underdog, it isn't half bad. And sometimes, that's all that can be said.Devon Werkheiser is the lead, who is most famous for his role as Ned Bigby in Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide. That was a show about guiding someone through middle school. Love at First Hiccup could work as the R rated film as Ned in high school falling in love with a girl who is out of his league. The only thing it is missing is the so-called "tips" from the Television series.The series wasn't bad, but it surely wasn't as good as Drake and Josh or Zoey 101. The big problem being the realism of it. The show's goal was to try and get the viewer through a day of middle school, avoiding as many problems and brick-walls as possible. Most of the time, the characters weren't in class and did things real people couldn't do (IE: Ned had a friend that periodically came up with weird, cockamamie technology creations). Other problems sometimes stemmed from the tip themselves. I'll never forget one episode where Ned continues to get "pants-ed" at school, and at one point tells the viewer "If you don't like getting pants-ed, try wearing a janitor's outfit." This caused me to think "is this show one complete joke?" The word of advice was used as an actual tip, but who in their right mind would come to school wearing a one-piece janitor's outfit? From there on out, I also imagined the characters had a certain smugness when giving out these "helpful" tips.As for Love at First Hiccup, it plays like a raunchy, R rated Nickelodeon film. If you were to modify various four letter words into something of a family nature, took out sex dialog, and made the plot about getting a first date or a first kiss rather than the first time our character and another girl hit the bed than this could've truly been a PG rated film for the kiddies. Even the production qualities are no better than say Fred: The Movie or Gym Teacher: The Movie, other Nickelodeon-produced films.The story concerns an early Freshman named Victor (Werkheiser) who, in his third day of school, immediately eyes and falls in lust with a Senior named Anya (Taylor-Compton) who is vastly out of his league. She, of course, has a boyfriend who drives a nice muscle guy, and persuades her to let him take her virginity before graduation. Victor hates the boyfriend, and wants Anya to be his first so they both can share the same experience.Premise wise, the film is cute and plucky while silently incorporating an unexpected raunch-element. This sort of reminds me of College, which starred Nickelodeon-raised actor Drake Bell. It was strange to see him out of the Nickelodeon setting, and free to say whatever he pleased. Frequently, he dropped the f word, and the same thing goes with Werkheiser in this film. It's not bad, but it takes some definite getting used to. I would've loved it if the character Victor took a minute to break the fourth wall and say something like "If you want to get in a girl's pants, don't forget to wear a condom." The story's subplot is that Anya's younger brother and Victor's younger brother are good friends, and are in cahoots to make a film banking off of Victor's desperate attempts to sleep with Anya. It's cute, but stretched to the furthest length of plausibility. Same goes with Anya and Victor's relationship. It's so odd to see a Senior so inviting to this dorky Freshman. Maybe four years of high school taught patience, but the believability is low when you see her tolerance is high.We also never hear too much from either side's friends. We see Victor's two dweeby pals, and we see one or two of Anya's girlfriends, but none of them ever greatly effect their decision-making. The character development for both leads is nice, but it's strange we don't get friendly advice anywhere in the film.There is very little to complain about with Love at First Hiccup, accept granted it does have some minor realism problems. It's a cute, coming of age comedy-drama, and that's good enough. It's blatant because of its lead character's ambition to have sex at a young age, and on that note, it can be relatable for some people going through that phase. I also think this should get some hefty bonus points for being a watchable and recommendable Direct-to-DVD film. You rarely get too many of those.Starring: Devon Werkheisher and Scout Taylor-Compton. Directed by: Barbara Topsøe-Rothenborg.

I thoroughly enjoyed this film. No single performance stands out. This film captures and completes it's purpose, which is love at first sight. Young love at first sight that is. Too many times today can this simple concept be manipulated into something that it is not. Excellent dorky, nervous, yet cute and very endearing portrayal by Devon. Scout remains beautiful, and grounded, while remaining sweet and sincere.I love how they are such opposite sides of the spectrum within the film, yet find they relate way more than they initially thought (without revealing any spoilers of course). Overall, I think this is a fine romantic comedy. With great supporting roles, and an overall puppy love feel, this is one of the best of the genre I have seen in a long while.