The Pretty One (2014)

Wonderful character development!

Fresh and Exciting

As Good As It Gets

Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

Not your average "rom-com". I respect that the director made an attempt to steer her image in a different direction. It was awkward at times, but thats not necessarily a bad thing considering Zoe Kazan acts it out well. If I could I would rate it 6.5, but I cannot and I thought that it deserved more credit than a 6. I am personally in love with Kazan so maybe I am being lenient on the movie, but come on how can you not love Ruby Sparks Overall the movie could be a bit weird at times and the concept is hard to wrap your mind around considering she is impersonating her dead sister, but if you don't fall in love with Kazan and Johnson than you should probably go back to watching your Nicolas Sparks films.

In the vein of other movies listed like The Spectacular Now etc, this movie certainly came out as a very disappointing watch. The desperation of old Laurel does not justifies her character identity crisis. Actually it was barely a desperation, it just took her one hair cut to change to pretty? Why she didn't do it all along? The title of the Movie just dissociates the sad, disoriented streak of thoughts looming large over the movie, which is not even justifiable? The character of Laurel(the ugly sister) languishes weakly in random events (Read kisses]); even after caring for her dad for so long, she fails to react in a sensible manner after 1st funeral while she is actually portrayed as the sensitive one in the early Pretty vs Ugly contrast(Isn't she supposed to know he is too grieving for death of daughter to speak, it's not like she had seen him being a forthcoming guy), her awkwardness in the later part is consistent with her old self but way too less to make up for the earnest desperation shown in meeting the old boyfriend, making a new one.. The story line just moves around a disturbed 20 something woman who is so desperate for a guy almost at all points of time.

so let me start off by saying this movie is not worth your time, you might think oh it looks cute, but I assure you its not, its a really sad story of a girl finding herself, and how does she do that? through a guy! and let me just say that after her sister died she didn't seem to care at all... and this is the same sister she seemed to look up to. the writing was also pretty bad I mean they actually had the line "well, I never" . I mean the only good thing about this movie is Jake Jhonson's acting and, I mean I can see why Zoe Kazan isn't a famous actress her sad, scared, confused, or really anything but happy looks the same. and don't get me started on the soundtrack this movie had, just take my advice and go watch something else because the trailer is better than the movie itself

Once I accepted the premise of this movie, which in itself is not easy to do, it grew on me and overall I came to like it. In my opinion, this is the type of movie that if one just goes with the flow, and doesn't try to look too closely beneath the plot surface, it can be enjoyable.Zoe Kazan does a fine job here, starring in a dual role of the identical twin sisters Laurel and Audrey. They're polar opposites in personality, with Laurel being introverted and self-doubting, while Audrey is outgoing and vivacious. Laurel is still living at home with her father Frank (John Carroll Lynch) with whom she has a co-dependent relationship, while Audrey has a successful career going in real estate and owns a duplex in town.However, one day while driving together they get distracted, and end up in a terrible head-on collision, where Laurel is seriously injured and Audrey is killed. Due to the fact that Laurel is wearing an ID bracelet imprinted with Audrey's name on it (which Audrey had just given to Laurel on their birthday to be a constant reminder of her), the doctors and even Frank think that Audrey survived the crash and that Laurel was the one killed. When Laurel is diagnosed with post-traumatic amnesia a lot of any inconsistencies can be explained away.Since Laurel thinks her life compared to her sister's was miserable, Laurel decides to maintain the charade, eventually moves into the duplex and even Audrey's job. At the duplex, she meets her tenant Basel, very effectively portrayed by the underrated actor Jake M. Johnson, whose performance in "Drinking Buddies" I liked quite a lot.Basel is quite the nice guy, selling used books over the internet and loaning others to neighborhood kids. You can see the attraction building between Basel and Laurel, and I thought the chemistry between the two worked exceptionally well.However, as circumstances will eventually warrant, Laurel may have to disclose who she really is, causing all kinds of reactions and chaos.Overall, I thought this film ably written and directed by Jenee Lamarque, can lose its' way at times, but can also be poignant and humorous as well, and as mentioned if one is willing to just accept the premise there are rewards here, in my opinion.