Rachel (Ginnifer Goodwin) is an average-looking, rule-following, hardworking Manhattan attorney who's "way past her prime child-bearing years" and is still loveless. With her sensible clothes and plain features, could there be any hope for a romantic love for her?
Darcy (Kate Hudson) is Rachel's best friend since childhood. Fun, spontaneous, glamorous, and sexy, Darcy is the complete opposite of Rachel. She lives the good life and seems to be a magnet for good luck. And while Rachel looks like a spinster-in-the-making, Darcy is soon to be married to the seriously handsome Dex (Colin Egglesfield). And Rachel, of course, is her maid of honor.
But on her 30th birthday, after the surprise party thrown for her by Darcy, Rachel unexpectedly ends the night sleeping with Dex—whom she's been secretly in love with. For years. And to her amazement, Dex feels the same way.
Based on Emily Giffin's unforgettable best-selling romantic dramedy novel, Something Borrowed is a beautiful, heart-rending story of friendship, self-realization, morals, and the complexity of love and relationships. I have read and loved the book, and the movie adaptation did pretty well (brought tears to my eyes in some parts), except for Goodwin (House, MD) who, in my opinion, was a bad choice for Rachel. With her annoying high-pitched perky voice and emotionless eyes, she was incredibly disappointing. She lacked that transformative power that defines a real actor; instead, she looked fake; twisting her facial muscles or wetting her eyes to project the appropriate emotion, yet her eyes say nothing at all. Fortunately, the rest of the main cast were fantastic—including funny guy John Krasinski (The Office)—that Goodwin, miraculously, can be endured.
Directed by Luke Greenfield (TV Series Aliens in America), Something Borrowed is a mixture of trite and original, silly and profound, corny and witty. Also, Rachel's character in the movie lacked that consistently repressed tortured feeling of being in love with your best friend's fiance, which was pretty weird. But because the base storyline is good, and the film's positive elements outshine the flaws, it comes out a very good romantic dramedy. The real beauty of the film, however, lies in the subtleties: the body language, the small gestures, those split-second facial expressions that are dead giveaways of someone in love. Those small magic moments are breathtaking. And that should be entirely credited to the perfect romantic hero, Colin Egglesfield; his character Dex exhibited emotions with believable depth, supporting the emotionless Goodwin, enough to make you fall in love.
For the fans of the best-selling novel, you must see the movie. For the hopeless romantics who've never heard of the book, still see the movie.
3 out of 5 stars
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