How to Be Single

**Spoiler Alert**

Director: Christian Ditter/Starring: Dakota Johnson, Rebel Wilson, Leslie Mann, Damon Wayans Jr., Anders Holm, Nicholas Braun, Jake Lacy and Alison Brie

I had misgivings about How to Be Single after seeing the trailer, being that romantic comedies are typically the most inane product excreted from the Hollywood machine. The world really needs one more movie about young twenty-somethings contending with dating and relationships? What's worse is that the movie features Rebel Wilson, whose signature foul-mouthed, promiscuous, best friend-to-the-beautiful-protagonist character had to have been conceived in a tweet. Ditto for her performance. If she ever plays anything else in a movie, you'll also hear about a cure for the common cold.
Unfortunately, nothing else in the movie looked particularly interesting and a chunk of the cast have already served time in other romantic comedies; namely Alison Brie, Leslie Mann and Jake Lacy. Mann could easily mentor any cast-member in the finer points of the romantic comedy craft.

But because I expected little from the movie, or I simply realized the alternate choices were a appallingly bad adaptation of a Nicholas Sparks novel, another Wayans's brothers parody or Zoolander 2; I actually found the movie palatable. I know that isn't exactly a passionate endorsement but it's the most honest response I can muster, given the genre. Director Christian Ditter's flick isn't the worst cinematic experience one will have this year. That distinction may go to the forthcoming Miracles from Heaven (if you haven't seen the trailer, check it out on IMDB or YouTube; it's a howler). It also won't be the most memorable. It's a film that takes leave of some of the romantic-comedy trappings to generate a few moments of genuine charm and impart the main character's hard-earned wisdom, which manages to steer clear of total triteness.

The story, based on the novel by Liz Tuccillo, is standard issue romantic comedy; young woman named Alice (Dakota Johnson) moves to New York City after agreeing to a separation from her long-term boyfriend, Josh (Nicholas Braun). It is understood implicitly that the two will come together again at some time in the indeterminate but near future. She takes up temporary lodgings with her older sister Meg (Leslie Mann), who works as a doctor at a local hospital. She also meets Robin (Rebel Wilson), a co-worker at her new job at a law firm, who wastes little time sharing secrets about the job, like the best places to hook-up on the premises. Robin also assumes the title of Alice's single-life guru; teaching the finer points of bar-life behavior and dealing with men.

But the film comes with a wide panoply of characters; all who represent singledom in its various incarnations. We have the young and handsome Tom (Anders Holm), who runs a local bar and is happy to share his non-commitment guy secrets with any woman he seduces into his apartment. Tom is attracted to Lucy (Alison Brie); a young woman who lives in neighborhood who uses Tom's bar as a place to pursue her on-line dating though it doesn't take a genius to figure they might end up together. Another character is the youngish Ken (Jake Lacy); Alice's co-worker, who eyes her older sister Meg (Leslie Mann) at a company party. Though their obvious age difference is hardly a deterrent to Ken, Meg is put off by what she sees as a temporary infatuation. The fact that she has also been impregnated via artificial insemination leaves her wary of his pursuit.
Other characters are Josh, who disappoints Alice when he announces his engagement to another woman but confuses her by periodically showing up for friendship and affection. Alice spends most of the film pining for Josh and making her happiness contingent on his coming back. And we also meet David (Damon Wayans Jr.); an African-American man with whom Alice begins a relationship, only to run afoul of his issues with his deceased wife. The idea of Alice and David being together takes the usually timid rom-com narrative someplace different; inter-racial romance is too bold a concept for Hollywood.

It isn't difficult to figure how the various threads will cross and entwine though I was surprised that a few end messily for one character or another. I also didn't anticipate the empowering choices Alice makes. Usually, in films of this stripe, the protagonist finds his or her love at the end after overcoming contrived crises but not here. I can at least give the film credit for not hewing snugly to the genre's narrative norms. The film offers a few more surprises but not many.

Other than the Alice/David pairing, which could have been the most exciting development in the story, I found the Ken/Meg story-line to be touching. It isn't often we see a young, studly, twenty-something pursue a pregnant forty-something in any romantic comedy.

By the time we reach the end credits, we see Alice has formulated some ideas about the virtues of being single, which is yet another way the movie breaks from the genre conventions.

In spite of the movie's attempt to shake the dust from romantic-comedies, I can't say I was wowed by the story. Several scenes stumble badly, such as Lucy's meltdown during a children's book reading at a local bookstore, which leads to a meeting with her future significant other. Most of Rebel Wilson's antics also just seem to be a reprise of everything she's done in other comedies and it isn't surprising when we learn she is committed to her single life. David's story-thread could have been given more time and space to become fully realized but it never happened.

I'm pleased that some of the loose ends were left loose and things didn't work out perfectly for some of the characters. So why didn't the film leave me feeling like I had seen something new? Because it was only a little better than my unbelievably low expectations, which were so low as to be despairing.

In spite of her penance in 50 Shades of Grey, Dakota Johnson is a charming presence. I don't know that she has any comedic bones in her body but she did give me a chuckle in a scene where she mimics Rebel Wilson. Her small role in Black Mass tells me she is willing to reach for more challenging roles so I'm hoping her turn here means she is only browsing in the romantic-comedy section. She shouldn't tarry here long, for the genre has claimed the careers of so many actresses, to wit: Kate Hudson, Ginnifer Goodwin (well, she only did two but she hasn't been heard from since) and Katherine Heigl, who couldn't get arrested now if she were caught with kiddie porn and a hundred kilos of heroine.

If the film doesn't celebrate being single, it at least doesn't treat it as a fatal disease. Alice finds liberation in it; which took me by surprise. How to Be Single isn't a bad movie. It's like a chocolate chip cookie sparsely sprinkled with chips. You wish it had bigger chunks of chocolate but at least it goes down easily.

Best of Enemies

Director: Robert Gordon and Morgan Neville

The sociopolitical climate during the Republican and Democratic conventions in 1968 was highly combustible and it is safe to say that the tensions surrounding the respective events reflected that which was gripping the nation. With the Vietnam War raging, a galvanized and committed counter-culture movement vigorously protested the conflict, while an equally committed conservative establishment voiced its contempt for the left's anti-war protests and sentiments.

In this seething atmosphere came a series of debates, aired by ABC T.V. during its coverage of both conventions, that stand as the most famous in American television history.
We learn from directors Robert Gordon and Morgan Neville's excellent documentary, The Best of Enemies, that ABC was regarded as something of a joke and an also-ran among the other networks at the time. As a boost to its convention coverage, the network held a series of ten on-air debates between two towering intellects; Gore Vidal; author, screenwriter and knight of the American left and William F. Buckley Jr., editor of the conservative magazine The National Review and paladin for the right.

Gordon and Neville's film explores the debate's impact on television but also, and maybe more significantly, on the two combatants themselves. Even decades later, the debates left Vidal and Buckley's nerves a little tender, which the film effectively conveys.

Gordon and Neville's film skillfully blends debate footage with commentary from a variety of sources, including Dick Cavett, the late Christopher Hitchens, Buckley's brother F. Reid Buckley; all who provide valuable insights. In F. Reid's case; familial perspective proves to be insightful and objective. Weighing in and providing embellishment are Vidal and Buckley biographers, who are never short of incisive analysis and facts.

An indisputable fact, made abundantly clear by both Buckley and Vidal and by commentators alike is the intense loathing both men bore for the other. As stated in the film, both felt the other represented something dangerous and threatening to the nation. Those interviewed are quick to place emphasis on the fierce intellects and the almost peerless use of language both men made their specialty. With eloquence and saber-sharp wit at their disposal, Vidal and Buckley's debates were looked upon as an intellectual prize-fight. Both contestants were expected to be brutal and merciless.

Biographical territory is also covered in the film. We learn that both men were well-educated and privileged; their respective backgrounds very similar. While Buckley pursued higher education, Gore wrote his first novel at nineteen, thus beginning a prolific, authorial career.

The film wastes little time showing the debates, which are divided appropriately by rounds. Though what we see and hear is hardly surprising, given both men's antipathy for his opponent's politics, it is still quite fascinating to listen as they verbally jab and parry. A Buckley biographer speaks of his ability to effectively dismantle an argument, piece by piece, while Vidal's weapons of choice were razor-sharp witticisms, which he could deploy to devastating effect.

But it is the final round, the 10th debate, where the harshest words were exchanged; inappropriately ad hominem but seemingly inevitable. After the near-violent exchange, where Vidal goaded Buckley into fisticuffs, the conservative leader made bigoted comments he would live to regret. One of the insults pointedly targeted Vidal's sexuality; a subject the film could hardly sidestep. The fact that Buckley's own sexuality was suspect makes his outburst all the more peculiar and intriguing.

The latter half of the film deals with the debate's aftermath and its impact on both men into their elder years. We learn that in the 80s', the shame Buckley felt for his outburst was still acute. When an interviewer mentioned having seen the debate, a bewildered Buckley expressed his surprise that the tapes hadn't been destroyed.

We also see how the debates helped spawn news program point/counterpoint commentary.

It is easy to become absorbed in Gordon and Neville's documentary, which captures a time that seems so alive and yet so quaint. Given the shrill, venomous nature of ubiquitous, political diatribes today, one can appreciate the Vidal/Buckley debates as an extinct form of political melee; where eloquent arguments were as highly regarded as facts and statistics. But the film is as much about the adversaries as it is the debates and the state of the nation in the late 60s'.

Best of Enemies is a terrific film and a fascinating time-capsule. Both men have passed on this new century, but like warriors of Homeric lore, they've achieved a legendary status; as nemeses and as intellects.