I was confused how a film that pitched itself as a “quirky rom-com” would deal with mental illness; I certainly can’t remember any schizophrenia in You’ve Got Mail. But it was tackled bravely and sensitively without losing much rom, or com. It was truthful – showing what people with mental illness really do, which is just getting on with it, as opposed to being goth girls who perform séances and self-harm or stalkers who know what you ate for breakfast six years ago.
I’m quite wary of films whose leads are more attractive than anyone I’ve ever seen in my own life. But I am happy to inform that Cooper and Lawrence are the real deal, and their performances are stellar. It’s so exciting to watch actors ripping it up in a dialogue-driven film – after a year of such epics as Les Miserables, Django Unchained and Life of Pi, it was nice to see a feature relying on script for its punches.
And boy, has J-Law got sass! In one scene she even out-sasses King Robert De Niro (Pat’s father), who we all know, has sass leaking out of his pores. Having said that, I believe that the competition for Best Actress at this year’s Oscars was not as stiff as usual, and although her performance was superb, I ponder whether J-Law would have been a winner if she was up against, say, last year’s nominees. But feel free to reject the opinion of a cynical film student (we’ve seen too many movies, nothing is real anymore) and make up your own mind. This is a smart film with a great cast and killer script that is definitely worth a watch!
4/5