Just One Day (Andy Garcia, Vera Farmiga) aka At Middleton

(Amazon UK link)

As with most of the films we watch for the first time, ‘Just One Day’ was recommended to me by Amazon. I had not previously heard of it, nor - as far as I know - either of the main actors. So I suppose it was recommended based on the genre of other films I had liked, and I was given it for my birthday a few months ago. We decided to watch it last night, after quite a tiring day.

The story takes place during one day at the campus of an American university called Middleton. Indeed, the film is entitled ‘At Middleton’ in the US, which is rather more descriptive as a title. We first meet the somewhat uptight banker George (Andy Garcia) driving his son Conrad (Spencer Lofranco) to an open day at the university which George thinks is right for his son. Conrad doesn’t want to wear a smart shirt and tie, and is clearly rather unimpressed with the whole idea of going to Middleton.

We next meet Edith (Vera Farmiga) driving her daughter Audrey (Taissa Farmiga, who is apparently Vera’s much younger sister) to the same open day. However Edith is rather flaky, and really doesn’t want her daughter to go there, while Audrey is very determined and focussed. We soon learn that she has something of a crush on an elderly linguistics professor, whom she has been longing to meet after studying his books.

The two pairs meet when Edith drives into a parking spot which George had been aiming for, and the contrast between her flamboyant, bohemian attitude contrasts nicely with his formal, somewhat uptight personality. They’re caught up in a tour with rather a boring student guide, and the two parents get separated from the group, and join forces.

Initial antipathy makes way for a realisation that in some ways they are kindred spirits, despite very different characters. Edith persuades George to keep away from the tour, inventing an imaginary personal tour and lying without compunction to her daughter. They explore the campus on ‘borrowed’ bicycles, climb a high tower despite George’s terror of heights, join in various classes, and gradually realise they are extremely attracted to each other…

I liked the upside-down idea of the film: that the parents behave in ways that one might expect teenagers to do, while the potential students follow the group and don’t do anything dramatic. Their stories intersperse somewhat with their parents’ escapade. Audrey meets her idolised professor and hears some hard truths from him, while Conrad discovers some things about Middleton that he likes very much.

There’s some humour in the various antics that George and Edith manage during the course of just a few hours; there’s also some poignancy, and more than a hint that neither is particularly happy. The chemistry between them is excellent. The ending is left open, and I found that a bit unsatisfactory, but overall we thought it a well-made light-hearted film.

Rated 15 in the UK, and R in the stricter US. There’s one brief sexual scene (from a distance) and a few instances of strong language. No nudity, no violence, and I’d have probably rated it as 12 or PG-13. However there’s a drug-related scene, which is probably what pushed it higher; nothing disturbing, as it was meant to be humorous, although we thought that scene rather flat. Still, given the subject matter, it’s unlikely that anyone younger than 15 would be interested anyway.

Review copyright 2018 Sue's DVD Reviews