Special to the AmNews
Alice (Dakota Johnson) meets Josh (Nicholas Braun) during her freshman year of college. After four years of what Josh views as a relationship with a future, Alice says she needs a break to find herself. Josh is heartbroken but has no other choice than to accept her decision.
Alice moves to New York City, where she shares an apartment with her sister and takes a job as a paralegal. On Alice’s first day on the job, she meets Robin (Rebel Wilson), who is all about the excesses of single life in New York: the clubs, the men and the booze. They become friends and hit the single scene.
Alice also meets Tom, the owner of a neighborhood bar, who makes it clear that’s he’s strictly a “friends with benefits” type of guy. They have a fling. Alice then decides she’s been free long enough and calls Josh, who has also moved to New York. They meet. She tells him she’s ready to return to what they had in college. But now it’s her turn to be heartbroken; Josh has moved on and is no longer interested.
One can’t help comparing “How to Be Single” to “Sex in the City,” with its focus primarily on a young, single professional woman. But if you have been single in New York City, you will identify with this film. This city is a complicated place to date, and this movie captures the conflicts and misunderstandings that come with seeking a partner in a highly diverse and complex town.
Dakota Johnson (daughter of Melanie Griffith and Don Johnson) is solid in the leading role. She is a flawed but basically decent human being. This story only works if viewers identify with her and her plight, and they will.
This movie also boasts a strong supporting cast, featuring Leslie Mann, Nicholas Braun and Damon Wayans Jr., among others. The only character lacking credibility is Wilson’s Robin. She’s out of control: promiscuous, drinking, partying. She’s a parody and not believable in any way.
“How to Be Single” reflects a trend in movies of gradually moving toward more sexually active characters. During the height of the AIDS epidemic, viewers recoiled at images of uninhibited carnal behavior as dangerous and foolhardy. “How to Be Single” and other films and TV series tend to overly glamorize life in the Big Apple. Everyone lives in a gorgeous and usually very large apartment, wears designer outfits and has loads of time to just hang out.
As to our diversity rating, this movie gets a C+. In New York City, 2 out of every 3 people are nonwhite, but you would never know it from films such as this one, or from shows such as “Seinfeld,” “Friends” and “Sex in the City.”
In Alice’s circle of friends and acquaintances, there is one person of color, David, played by Wayans Jr. He and Alice meet at a college alumni event and later connect romantically. David is a successful, polished professional as well as a devoted father. His wife died a couple of years earlier and he still struggles with the loss. This type of positive image of a Black man—intelligent with emotional depth—is rare, and it’s commendable that the casting director selected him for this role.
So what’s the verdict on “How to Be Single”? All in all, it’s worth a trip to the theater because it’s the kind of film that you’ll think and talk about after it’s over. It gets a See It rating.
At one hour and 50 minutes long, “How to Be Single” is rated R for sexual content and language.