“Don’t be such a negative Nancy.”
We have all heard this common phrase used to describe a person that is stuck in the revolving door of pessimism, regret or bitterness, all of which accurately represent the main character, Nancy (played by Lake Bell), of the rom-com, Man Up.
Recently released on May 29, 2015, the film, directed by The Inbetweeners’ Ben Palmer, received relatively successful reviews by critics and average viewers. BBC Films produced a heart clutching, perhaps somewhat cliché, love story between two Londoners that exhibits the habits and outlooks on life that portray “Britishness,” through the character’s actions and experiences.
Immediately charming, Jack (Simon Pegg) unavoidably mistakes the harsh, yet witty Nancy (Lake Bell) as his blind date in Waterloo Station. They journey through London on the date, while Jack is unaware that he has met the wrong person. The two unknowingly share a disappointment with their current (lack of) dating situations. The date itself unsurprisingly begins with both actors simultaneously chugging a beer.
In fact, the thread of the movie happens to be a bar, which is a very quintessential London evening. The date progresses to the bowling alley where (again, unsurprisingly) the two continue to drink to the point of complete drunkenness. The behavior of the two is quite acceptable, even funny, to bystanders because it is so common in the culture to publicly drink.
Both Jack and Nancy learn to go with the flow, similar to everyone else surrounding them. The British culture seems to be very calm about spontaneous situations, which the main characters modeled very well by the end of the feature. Nancy’s sister continuously encouraged her to be more spontaneous and confident in herself, which is what most Brits exemplify in their actions. The first scene opens with Nancy Patterson self-confining to the hotel room she rented for an engagement party where she ordered room service instead of taking action. Nancy had several mantras, including “be more spontaneous” and “get thunder thighs,” that she repeated with full intentions on following through with the goals. It is not until Nancy stops intentionally trying to fulfill these mantras that she actually does achieve them. Her spontaneous decision to consume the role as the blind date proves to be rewarding since it leads to almost every one of her life mantras to be completed.
The actions of the characters represent the people of Britain very well through the boisterous adventures, the spontaneity and the natural habitual drinking. While the love story archetype of boy meets girl, boy falls for girl, is completely overdone and cliché, the actors of this film notably helped pull it off. The cinematography was minimal, as it typically is in Rom-Coms since it is more focused on the story. The only part of the plot of Man Up that was not cliché was the story of how they met, and that is the saving grace of what kept the film interesting to begin with; after that, it was all the actors. The actors very successfully portrayed protagonists that were charismatic and relatable, captivating the audience’s empathy from start to finish.
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