Man Up (Lake Bell)

(Amazon UK link)

We couldn’t remember the film ‘Man Up’, which was sitting on our shelves, although as it turns out, we first saw it as recently as five years ago. Indeed, I started to recognise scenes and storylines as we watched, but I had entirely forgotten the outcome, and most of the detail.

Lake Bell stars as the somewhat nerdy and gauche Nancy. We meet her in a hotel room, trying on make-up and practising introductory phrases… and then she decides she really doesn’t want to join in a huge, noisy Hawaiian themed party which she has been invited to. This is partly because it’s really not her scene, but also partly because her friends are setting her up with a man who they think will be perfect for her.

She joins the party and he is far from perfect. We next see her in the train, on the way to another party; this time to celebrate her parents’ fortieth anniversary. Her sister keeps calling her, worried that she might not turn up, although it transpires that Nancy is usually quite predictable and reliable. She gets into conversation with a girl on the train, who leaves a book behind…

Nancy tries to find the girl to return the book, knowing she needs it in order to meet someone. This leads to a sequence of misunderstandings which result in her pretending to be the other girl, without actually stating it, and spending the day with Jack (Simon Pegg). They get along well, both of them a bit awkward but gradually discovering things in common including a passion for ten-pin bowling.

Into the plot comes the sleazy Sean (Rory Kinnear) who remembers Nancy from secondary school, and always had a crush on her… a crush which turned into a somewhat creepy obsession. I didn’t find him amusing at all, although I think he was meant to be. Instead he comes across as a complete loser with a mind in the gutter and a bizarre sense of entitlement.

There’s not a whole lot of plot - the film is less than 90 minutes, and basically covers a single day where a great deal of alcohol is consumed, and the two main characters discover they rather like each other… but when Jack eventually learns the truth about Nancy, he is determined to meet the real Jessica, while Nancy gets to her parents’ party, albeit very late.

The acting is good, if exaggerated at times, although I couldn’t really relate to Nancy, who’s such a mixture of naivety (despite being 34) and confidence - she seems to take any opportunity to talk in adult language.

And yes, there’s an inevitable epilogue to this, one that I thought was well done if a tad ridiculous, and quite amusing. Unfortunately, although the film was free of any violence or overt scenes of intimacy, there were almost continual references to sexual activities, and a fair amount of bad language. I didn’t feel any of it was necessary - we really didn’t need to know Nancy’s theories or past, and it all rather detracts from the emotional impact of the film which is about taking chances, being spontaneous, and trusting instincts.

So the rating of 15 is about right; not that it would be of much interest to anyone younger. I would have liked it better if the language and innuendoes had been more subtle or even non-existent. But perhaps the producers didn’t want it to be rated 12. In the stricter ratings of the US, this film is rated R which does seem a tad excessive.

We didn’t watch the ‘extra’ on the DVD this time.

You can read detailed information about this film, and a short trailer, at the IMDb site: Man Up. 

Review copyright 2022 Sue's DVD Reviews