If you have to sit through a romantic comedy, the least the producers could do would be cast Simon Pegg. I have been a fan of Pegg's going back to his sitcom Spaced and the films of Edgar Wright. I sat through RUN FATBOY RUN and HOW TO LOSE FRIENDS AND ALIENATE PEOPLE just because Pegg was in them. So, while I would likely pass the trailer for MAN UP, seeing Pegg's name gave me reason to check it out.
MAN UP starts out like BRIDGET JONES' DIARY with Lake Bell (doing an awful English accent) living a slovenly life when she stumbles upon a blind date that she takes as her own. What then follows, the trailer leads us to believe, is a wacky night of mixed up personalities that ends with love finding a way. Usually, Pegg would play the lead role in a movie like this but instead appears to be the straight man to Lake Bell's wacky character. Bell was pretty impressive in her directorial debut IN A WORLD, so I am more willing to give this movie a chance than I would with most romantic comedies.
Being here in the United States, I can say this is a direct to home video candidate or possibly a very limited theatrical release. Pegg is popular worldwide, but I wonder if this movie looks to be big in Europe. In either case, MAN UP opens in the U.K. on May 10th and will premiere in the United States at the Tribeca Film Festival on April 19th.
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