‘ONE DAY’: A Bittersweet Romance that Spans 20 Years

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The draw to see this is twofold. The first is Anne Hathaway (the Princess Diaries star), and second, because I am always up for a good romance. I knew how this one would end before seeing it, and although I’m far from happy with it, still I watched One Day.

One Day (2011) Film Review

She’s intelligent with the book smarts to graduate from university with top honors. However when it comes to social things, Emma (Hathaway) is totally clueless. She feels awkward and isn’t at all that interested in a relationship, so instead she pursues education.

He’s a partier and flirt who somehow still manages to graduate, and yet on graduation day Dex (Jim Sturgess) finds he’s intrigued by Emma. After a few too many drinks, the pair of them nearly have a one-night fling until both have a change of heart. Instead they’ll just be friend. Life passes, and before either of them realize it, even after mistakes, career aspirations, changes and relationships with other people, the two realize that together, they just might be the right fit.

‘ONE DAY’: A Bittersweet Romance that Spans 20 Years. A review of the 2011 adaptation with Anne Hathaway. #Movies #Adaptation #AnneHathaway #Romance Share on X

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Taking place over twenty-some years, One Day is a special movie without being “great.” Though I don’t think it is, it’s very much like an Indie type film. Through the years, it visits Dex and Emma always on the same day, July fifteenth, where they are sometimes together, sometimes not. As a love story, this is an interesting movie, but as anything else, this script has flaws. Its director, Lone Scherfig (An Education), doesn’t seem to stray far from the vignette format.

There’s quite a bit of criticism for One Day, and one of the reasons is Anne Hathaway not being able to turn out a convincing British dialect. This is the second role that Anne adopts a British accent and in my humble opinion, I think she does a decent job with it. She and Jim share good chemistry and since I did like them together, I wouldn’t mind a future pairing. Also part of the cast is Patricia Clarkson and Romola Garai.  

During the story, there is a concept that it goes against the usual movie grain, if you will. Dexter and Emma swap roles in a sense as his life drastically changes (for the better) and she lives the more sophisticated, single free-spirit lifestyle. The script seems to move at an alarming rate (understandable) but it does take time to feature smaller moments. Despite this, the film still leaves a viewer unsettled; almost as if we’re somehow cheated out of a happy ending. Although it’s unusual, I was able to “accept” this, in part because the end also promotes healing, something not every film does.

Although my mother didn’t care for this one at all, One Day is a pretty thought but the execution is far too blunt a conclusion to be really satisfying. 

Content: implications suggest Dex sleeps with a number of women. He and Emma eventually do sleep together [only implied]; we see them cuddling a time or two. A wife cheats on her husband. One scene shows Dex and Em skinny-dipping [as well as two other shots of barely avoided graphic nudity]. There are some crude comments; profanity consists of some British slang, sh*t, a**, da*n and one F-word. Some misuses of God’s name are also thrown into the mix as is quite a bit of alcohol consumption and the implication of drug abuse. One person dies after a tragic accident. The film is PG13.