Plus One (2019)

Streaming Service: Hulu

Movie Name/Year: Plus One (2019)

Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance

Length: 98 minutes

Rating: Not Rated

Production/Distribution: Red Hour Films, Studio71, Firewatch, The Bindery, Lunacy, Inwood Road Films, Particular Crowd, Shaw Organisation, NOS Audiovisuais, RLJE Films

Director: Jeff Chan, Andrew Rhymer

Writer: Jeff Chan, Andrew Rhymer

Actors: Maya Erskine, Jack Quaid, Ed Begley Jr., Obada Adnan, Alex Anfanger, Kiersten Armstrong, Jennifer Bartels, Jon Bass, Joe Bays, Emma Bell, Beck Bennett, Scarlett Bermingham, Rachell Carson, Rosalind Chao, Tim Chiou, Felisha Cooper, Brandon Kyle Goodman, Allan Havey, Leah Henoch, Jessy Hodges, Brianne Howey, Max Jenkins

Blurb from IMDb: In order to survive a summer of wedding fever, longtime single friends, Ben and Alice, agree to be each other's plus one at every wedding they've been invited to.

Selina’s Point of View:

I had trouble sitting through this film. There was only one original thing about it, and it wasn’t a good thing.

Chances are, you’ve seen some version of this plot a billion times. Not going to lie, I enjoy some of them. The one thing that is necessary to enjoy a movie like this, the one commonality that I would never recommend altering, is that you must always have at least one main character that people are willing to root for.

The main characters in Plus One were AWFUL. I hated them both and I didn’t want to see either one of them succeed.

I found the rest of the movie was pointless. If you have no interest in following the main characters than there’s really no need to watch the rest of the film. There weren’t even supporting characters that caught my attention.

Flawed characters are important. They’re not real if they are perfect Mary Sue types. That said, it’s very difficult to make a character with only flaws an attractive main. This movie tried, and failed.

It also wasn’t funny. The only times I laughed at all were because something was so cringey that I could feel the embarrassment clawing up my spine like a rodent. That’s not how I prefer my comedy.

If I had to say one good thing, it would be that they didn’t overproduce the sex scene. It seemed pretty natural and true to life

Cat’s Point of View:

I went into watching Plus One unsure that I could give it a fair shake. I just wasn’t in the mood for a rom-com. I did my best to ditch the feeling and just give in to the story. Sure enough, it began to win me over.

I can relate to Jack Quaid’s (Tragedy Girls, Logan Lucky, Smallfoot) character in some ways. My parents split while I was still in elementary school. It was really strange watching them move on individually. While I may have gotten married young, I can’t say that the whole experience didn’t color my perceptions, it’s affected a lot of my life profoundly – not always in the ways you’d expect, either.

The point is, I get that it’s sometimes hard to get out of your own head.

I found myself really enjoying this movie. The emotional moments were both raw and endearing, the awkward moments were appropriately squirmy, and I really had a few good laughs.

After Plus One, I find myself wanting to go look up more of Maya Erskine’s (Betas, 6 Balloons, Wine Country) work. I loved how comfortable her character was in her own skin. Some of the cast were unexpected in the best ways. All told, I couldn’t find any faults.

If I had to pick something to say that even remotely bordered on negative, and that’s fishing, it would be that it wasn’t the most original movie. They followed the recipe and baked a really good cake. It wasn’t remarkable, but it was solid and executed well. I still may not go back for seconds.

Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score – 89%

Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score – 81%

Metascore – 65/100

Metacritic User Score – 6.3/10

IMDB Score – 6.6/10

CinemaScore – None

Trust the Dice: Selina’s Rating – 2/5

Trust the Dice: Cat’s Rating – 3.5/5

Trust the Dice Parental Advisory Rating: R

Movie Trailer: