Catch and Release (Jennifer Garner)

(Amazon UK link)

I’m not sure how this film ended up on my wish-list last year. Probably Amazon recommended it to me, based on the genre of film I like; I don’t think I’d come across any of the cast before, although I don’t always remember the names of actors and actresses.

I was given ‘Catch and Release’ for Christmas last year, and we decided to watch it last night. We knew the theme would be sad, at least initially. The blurb on the back told us that it was about a young woman whose fiancé had just died.

The story starts at the funeral itself, and we see Gray (Jennifer Garner) struggling to hold everything together as she deals with her own grief alongside that of her fiancé’s family and close friends. We learn that he died in some kind of accident while on a men’s weekend away, and that they had parted in anger. Gray escapes from the crowds to hide in the bathroom, only to overhear a very embarrassing incident with one of her former fiancé’s close friends, Fritz (Timothy Olyphant).

The rest of the film is about Gray and her interactions with the three close friends. Dennis (Sam Jaeger) is eager to do anything he can to help. Sam (Kevin Smith) is an irritating and overweight joker, although he too is grieving. Fritz appears not to care at all.

Unsurprisingly, and a little clichéd, Gray uncovers several secrets in her fiancé’s past which both shock and anger her. She starts to wonder if she had ever really known him at all… and gradually gets to know his friends better.

It’s a character-based story, and I liked the pace although it was a bit hard to tell the time-frame. Gray appears to recover rather rapidly, with the shocks she uncovers making her decide to live life to the full rather than becoming miserable.

Other a couple of others who were rather caricatured, we thought the people very believable. The three friends form a good contrast with each other. Every time Sam appears he’s eating very loudly, or talking with his mouth full, and I had to block my ears and close my eyes. It seemed unnecessary to make him so gross, although perhaps it was supposed to be amusing. Far from it with anyone who has misophonia, or who finds bad manners irritating.

I was particularly impressed with Fiona Shaw, who played the mother of Gray’s late fiancé. Her dignity and deep misery were shown perfectly, and we appreciated her gradual softening in the face of other people’s suffering.

Overall the story was really rather sad. Gray, inevitably, moves on although we felt it far too rapid and rather shallow. But the themes, in addition to the main depressing one are about unrequited love, betrayal and lies. It’s a testament to the director and writers that they made a very watchable and (in places) moving film.

Rated 12 (PG-13 in the US), which seems about right. The bedroom scenes are implied rather than explicit, and there’s no violence. Some bad language, mostly profanity.

Review copyright 2017 Sue's DVD Reviews