For a while, about halfway through, Something Borrowed seems about to turn into something special. That’s around the time when our heroine Rachel (Ginnifer Goodwin) looks at the needy hysterical woman who’s stalking her friend Ethan (John Krasinski) and muses that perhaps she isn’t really hysterical, just an unhappy person who “mistook sex for love”. It’s also around the time when another minor character, the sex-mad insensitive guy who seems like a total pig, reveals that he once did something beautiful as a child, making a little splint for a wounded chipmunk – and the story is part of his ‘line’, something he uses to impress women, but that doesn’t make it a lie: there’s no indication that he didn’t really make that splint for the little chipmunk. Everyone has two sides, even the minor characters! Alas, the film doesn’t have the courage to build on that, ending up feeble and unsatisfying.
It seems to be a trend in rom-coms now to turn the rom-com into rom-dram by exploring some moral dilemma. A few months ago, in The Dilemma, Vince Vaughn wondered whether he should tell his best friend that the best friend’s wife was being unfaithful; now, in Something Borrowed, Rachel’s plight is even more acute – because not only is her best friend’s fiancé being unfaithful, he’s being unfaithful with Rachel herself! Just a few weeks before Darcy (Kate Hudson) is due to marry Dax (Colin Egglesfield), Rachel and Dax succumb to a night of passion. Darcy, of course, suspects nothing. She and Rachel have been friends forever, extrovert Darcy able to “stumble fearlessly into adventure” because Rachel, her rock, is always there to pick her up if things go wrong. How can Rachel betray that relationship – and wreck Darcy’s wedding – by revealing what happened? On the other hand, how can she possibly keep quiet? Especially since she and Dax love each other.
The dilemma is nicely set up. Dax’s mother is “not doing well”; she suffers from depression. Surely Dax must avoid any scandal, if only for her sake? And what about Darcy? “She’s having her bridal moment,” says someone when she cries at the wedding rehearsal. Doesn’t every woman dream of being a bride? How can they destroy that? On the other hand, Dax confides to Rachel early on that he always wanted to be a teacher, but became a lawyer to please his family. Everything he’s ever done has been to please others. Why can’t he follow his feelings for once? And what about Rachel? How long must she be an old maid – “You’re 30,” she’s told, “you can’t afford to be picky” – and stand in the shadows?
Something Borrowed deserves credit for trying to be more than the usual fluffy rom-com. But asking the right questions is only half of it; you also have to supply some good (or interesting) answers, which is where the film falls short. Take the sub-plot with Ethan and the stalker pseudo-girlfriend, for instance. Having pointed out that she may be more complex than she looks, the script then fobs her off with the cheapest laugh imaginable: Ethan claims to be gay (!), making for some frankly silly gags where he comes on to guys while she watches suspiciously.
The main dilemma is equally mishandled. Something Borrowed seems to have no idea how to play Darcy (it doesn’t help that Hudson is her usual annoying self). Now she’s being shallow, turning away from her wedding vows to say hi to friends – she doesn’t deserve him! – now she’s bonding with Rachel and dancing to Salt’n Pepa. If this were a French arthouse film (paging Eric Rohmer), the ending would be obvious: it’s actually right there onscreen, when Rachel confronts Dax, telling him he has to make a decision – and he just shakes his head and says “I can’t … I’m so sorry”. A woman realising she loves a weak, unworthy man makes a great ending – but not in Hollywood, so instead the film hems and haws for another 20 minutes trying to find something feelgood and ‘acceptable’. It doesn’t work.
This is actually a strange week for film reviews: I’ve given four stars to Super 8 [see opposite page] which is all kinds of flawed – yet somehow refreshes, in a way few films manage – and only one star to Something Borrowed, which is really quite an admirable movie. It tries to build a tricky, many-sided situation – but also wants to keep the rigid rom-com structure and shrill rom-com characters, the Nice Girl, the Slut, the Harmless Best Friend (“When I’m in love, I drink rosé and watch Remains of the Day”), so the whole ambitious edifice comes crashing down. Something Borrowed is in fact something new, in its own small way. It’s also something muddled, and finally tedious.
DIRECTED BY Luke Greenfield
STARRING Ginnifer Goodwin, Kate Hudson, Colin Egglesfield
US 2011 112 mins.
