Recently, I was in the mood to watch a short, rom-com film and decided on The Longest Week. It had been a while since I watched a film on Netflix. In fact, I visited the site for the first time earlier this month to add more films to my queue, which mostly consists of classics, foreign films and documentaries. The Longest Week was a new addition to my to-watch list. I added it because it stars two actors that I really like at the moment — Jason Bateman and Olivia Wilde.
The film’s plot, in short:
“When Conrad, a 40-year-old would-be writer, loses his allowance and posh hotel home, a friend takes him in just as Conrad swoops in on his girlfriend. ” — Netflix
A lot of Netflix reviewers said the film was a copycat of Woody Allen and Wes Anderson films and lacked originality. Maybe so. I’d agree with the former statement, but still believe Peter Glantz was able to add some of his own charm. I haven’t seen any of the other films he has directed, but he is credited with Wilco‘s “Sunloathe” music video and Andrew W.K.‘s “I Want to See You Go Wild” music video.
This is not a life-changing film, by any stretch of the imagination. Most romantic comedies are not. Still, it is cute and endearing, and brought some serious spaces and places envy out of me. The settings made me want to jump right in and never come back out. Of course Bateman played another role in which it’s hard not to love him and Wilde was, again, a stylish character with a personality fit for an IRL friend. Is my bias showing? Overall, I rated it 3/5. It’s not something I would passionately recommend, but if you have an hour and a half to spare — stream it.
I took some snapshots of my favorite moments, mostly captures of the beautiful settings (and Wilde’s perfectly sharp eyeliner). They are purposely out of order and while I don’t think there are any spoiler alerts here, especially if you read the synopsis, I’ll preface the rest of the post by saying — *SPOILER ALERTS*!
Have you seen this film? Does it look like something that you would watch? Do you agree that the interior/exterior settings are inspiring?