It's another film that rips off the premise of
Groundhog Day (1993). So many films and television shows have ripped off that premise that
Groundhog Day is becoming its own genre. However, at its core, this film is a romantic comedy, one that leans more on silliness than anything else. As such, it's essentially about two people, a girl and a guy, and whether or not those two people will fall in love. The problem is that I didn't buy into the two of them falling in love. There are several reasons as to why I didn't buy into it. Most of it revolves around the male character.
Andy Samberg (Brooklyn Nine-Nine and Saturday Night Live) stars as Nyles, a guy who is attending a wedding in Palm Springs, California. He's the boyfriend of one of the bridesmaids. That's the only thing that we learn about him. We learn nothing about his past. We learn nothing about his family. We learn nothing about his career. We learn nothing about him that could be considered significant. In one scene, Nyles is questioned about his past and he doesn't answer, which poses the idea of whether or not you can fall in love with someone without knowing their past or anything about them beyond the superficial. Unfortunately, the film never leans into that idea.
We're simply supposed to like Nyles on this superficial level, which doesn't work for me. It perhaps would have worked if I were more engaged by Samberg as an actor. Sadly, I'm not engaged by him. I'm not convinced he's that great of an actor in terms of giving a dramatic performance. He has a good comedic sense, but I wouldn't say that I could ever see him one day winning an Academy Award for acting. This is not the case for Bill Murray who was in
Groundhog Day and who was always engaging. There are also younger actors like Jake Lacy who I think would have been better in the role of Nyles. Samberg just doesn't do it for me.
Cristin Milioti (Fargo and How I Met Your Mother) also stars as Sarah, a girl who is attending the same wedding in Palm Springs. She's the sister to the bride. That is not the only thing we learn about her. The film digs more into her character and presumably she's the film's true protagonist. We learn about her family and we learn a bit about her life before this wedding, which is good, but, this film is about her falling in love with Nyles and because the film makes Nyles such a blank, it's difficult for me to buy into her falling for him.
This film could be an example of Stockholm Syndrome, but that's ultimately a very un-romantic idea, which is the opposite of the tone that this film wants to push. The film could be akin to something like
The Blue Lagoon (1980), which was about a guy and a girl stranded alone together and basically having no choice but to turn to each other. The circumstances are different here, but it's the same basic concept that Nyles and Sarah are stranded alone together. Technically, there are other people around, but the
Groundhog Day premise still accomplishes the same. Yet,
The Blue Lagoon still involved discovery and the two learning things about each other. This film fails because we learn nothing about Nyles that is significant to who he is. How are you supposed to fall in love with someone if you don't know who they are?
Finally, I have to mention that there is a joke in this film about Nyles having sex with everyone around him, including a guy allegedly. Nyles is presumably heterosexual, but his suggestion that he had a homosexual encounter could have opened the door to an exploration of sexuality and it could have opened the door to an exploration more of Nyles as a character or person. Yet, the film just brushes it off as a lame joke.
A better example of a
Groundhog Day film but with a more engaging performance from a male actor is
The Fare, starring Gino Anthony Pesi.
Rated R for sexual content, language, drug use and some violence.
Running Time: 1 hr. and 29 mins.
Available on Hulu.
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