"Speed Dating" Review - Written by Anthony T

Speed Dating
Year: 2010
Director: Tony Herbert
Stars: Hugh O’Connor, Emma Choy, Nora Jane Noone
MPAA Rating: Not Rated
Studio: MTI Home Video
Running Time: 84 Mins
Official Website: http://www.speeddatingthemovie.com/




Going into “Speed Dating”, I was expecting something that I would enjoy a lot, considering how the film’s characters looked interesting and the trailer got me interested in the film. But after watching this film, I was surprised that I almost ended up hating this film.

The film is about a man who is approaching his thirtieth birthday. He still can’t get over the fact that he broke up with the love of his life, two years earlier. Now near his birthday, he has taken up speed dating. As he becomes more despondent with his life, he begins to turn all of his focus to a mysterious woman that he frequently sees at his local bar. In order to find out more about this person, he decides to act like a private detective with disastrous but hilarious results.

There are some films that you want to enjoy a lot, but can’t because of the little things that really hampers your enjoyment for the film, but at the end of the day there are enough positives to gives this a slight recommendation. This was the case with “Speed Dating”.

This film could have been better, if writer/ director Tony Herbert didn’t include both the therapy session and the crime elements in his story. Both of those elements slowed the film to the point that it took away from all of the funny stuff that was happening during the course of this film. It felt like, the energy that the film builds up with the comedic stuff gets replace with material that doesn’t fit the flow of the film. This would have been a funnier film, if one of those plot lines weren’t in the film at all. Instead, it drowns out some of the film’s most funny moments and become dark.

With that said, there are enough good things about this film. Herbert does his best making the material funny though his screenplay and the way that he directs the action. He does a very good job by giving the most of the film’s characters some very funny quirks, especially in the speed dating scenes and the dinner scenes. Those parts of the film really help get you into the flow of the film. If they weren’t there, then this film would have just flat out suck. Another thing that Herbert does well is how he directed his actors. I enjoyed the acting, as they did a good job delivering the material that they were given. For the humor to work, the actors need to have chemistry with one another. The actors have very good chemistry here to the point that it’s enough to save this film. The film also for the most part had a good love story. Even with the negative that I just mentioned, I was invested enough in the romantic parts to slightly recommend this film

“Speed Dating is a film that does have some flaws with the story and the execution, but there is enough funny material and a good love story to make this good rental

Review Rating: Three Stars.

“Speed Dating”: Official Trailer