Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Zoe Kazan, Adam Driver
Having gone through a particularly rough breakup, former medical student Wallace (Radcliffe) has taken a very cynical view on love. This begins to change after meeting Chantry (Kazan), the cousin if his best friend (Driver) at a party. Wallace and Chantry hit it off, but Chantry has a boyfriend (Rafe Spall). Can Wallace keep his feelings in check and maintain a platonic relationship?
Coming to British cinemas soon, What If was made for the intention of a direct to video release. The film's not a product of Hollywood, instead being an Irish/Canadian co-production. But whilst not being part of the big studios of LA, What If has a starrier cast than films you would associate with home-media-only releases and whilst those also come with, let's be fair, a stigma of being seen as inferior, What If is a pretty decent film, even if that's all it is.
What If, whilst not afraid to go to controversial places, is a rather cuddly and cozy little rom-com that's disposable but still endearing and rather sweet in its earnest simplicity. A film that obviously owes a debt to When Harry Met Sally (1988), whilst understandably not in that league.
The film does have a little bit of magic when it comes to its dialogue. There are some memorable and quotable lines and as far as humour goes, there are moments guaranteed to raise a little bit of laughter from pretty much anyone so it does its job as a comedy and as a crowd-pleaser fairly well. Daniel Radcliffe and Zoe Kazan also put in good performances with Kazan (after her self-penned Ruby Sparks (2012)) seems to be forging a new path as the quirky girl archetype for romantic films. The film also has a certain level of cine-literacy and embraces the movie interests of the characters with nods to The Thing (1982) and The Princess Bride (1987). It's superfluous and quickly dropped from the plot early on, but it gives the film a certain charm.
Wit aside, there are problems to the writing. A film with an obsession over geography, at the start we seem to be in some sort of trans-Atlantic ambiguous state between the two with both British actors and North Americans. It's only later in the story that it becomes clear that it's set in Canada and then becomes very clear. Interspersed with scenes in Ireland (Rafe Spall, playing Kazan's boyfriend, is at a conference to discuss Europe and Asia being considered one continent given it shares a land mass...that he's from the Americas of all places is never brought up in relation to counter the argument) the film begins to lumber towards travelogue territory but ultimately evades this fate.
The film does play itself out way too long as plot contrivances pile upon each other towards the conclusion, but Radcliffe and Kazan have enough chemistry together to make it bearable as do Adam Driver and Mackenzie Davies as a secondary couple. Romantic comedies are often trite, saccharine and generic rubbish or intelligent, heartwarming and loveable in their extremes. What's remarkable about What If is that it actually falls in the middle ground between those, making it flawed but amiable and watchable.
What If will be released in the US on the 8th of August, followed by a UK release on the 20th.
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