I went to see this film randomly with a friend and didn't really know what to expect. I had seen that the book was number one in the Times Bestseller list, so hoped the film would live up to the book's apparent reputation.
It starts with Emma (Anna Hathaway) riding through the streets of London on her bicycle on July 15th 2008. After a minute or two, the action is taken back to the same date in 1988, on her graduation day. This theme of zooming backwards and forwards through the years (though always on July 15th) is used throughout the film, so it gives a complete life story of Emma, and her co-starring main character Dexter (Jim Sturgess).
A general overview of the plot is that Emma is a nobody, a geeky student who grows up to be the average woman, and Dexter is charming, rich, and the girls love him. Despite their seemingly different lives, the pair become good friends after a drunken fumble on graduation night, and as viewers we watch as they embark on the journey that is the rest of their lives.
Fuelled by his ego and parent's money, Dexter goes into showbiz after university, where a world of drugs and debauchery await him. Emma struggles to make it as a writer, and makes ends meet by taking a job in a Mexican restaurant. She ends up spending far too much of her life in there, and meets Ian, a dorky but lovable chap who she falls into a half-hearted long term relationship with.
Emma and Dexter's friendship is the only thing that they have in common, and after a while this begins to take its toll on Emma, when Dexter becomes arrogant and completely ignorant to anyone but himself. After a few years of distance, he gets married, has a little girl and settles down, while Emma moves to Paris after her first novel is published, and leaves Ian behind.
Eventually Dexter's wife cheats on him, and he turns up in Paris. Finally both in the same place in life, the pair end up getting married and moving back to England, but this film shows just how cruel life can be when everything appears to be resolved.
It was a lovely film, though hugely sad at times (girls wear waterproof mascara!). Definitely worth a watch for something thought provoking, even though it does make you feel slightly depressed and pessimistic at its finale. The acting is great, especially Ian (Rafe Spall) who is adorable, although Hathaway's accent is extremely dubious at times. It also has a small role played by Romola Garai, who is my total girl crush at the moment!
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