MAN UP
Director: Ben Palmer
Cast: Simon Pegg, Lake Bell, Rory Kinnear, Olivia Williams, Dean-Charles Chapman, Ophelia Lovibond, Ken Stott, Harriet Walter, Sharon Horgan, Paul Thornley, Stephen Campbell Moore
Rating: (M)
Four stars (out of five)
Man Up (Rialto) takes a completely different tack, with every character - no matter how minor - being the star in their own little universe and everyone being a normal mixture of nice and nasty.
This compassion towards everyone on the screen helps to mitigate the leads, who are so messed up it can be a trial to be around them.
Nancy (Lake Bell) had a bad break-up which has knocked her confidence and turned her into a social disaster zone.
When trying to return a stranger's book she is mistaken by Jack (Simon Pegg) as his blind date.
Jack is so nervous he doesn't let Nancy get a word in edgeways and by the time there is a gap to tell him his mistake she has decided she likes him so she goes along with it.
At first things go surprisingly well.
Then Nancy's deception is uncovered and Jack is not impressed.
But instead of storming out they continue in each other's company for a few more hours.
Keeping a warring couple in each other's orbit is normally a weak point in these films, but Man Up manages to make it believable and, ultimately, hilarious.
It takes its time reeling you in for the big laughs, but once it has you hooked it does not let go.
- Christine Powley
