onreact

Game Day is not really about basketball. So it's not a sports movie. We watch Ricki, a self-centered and privileged woman fail miserably with her startup.

Then she grapples with her new existence as a third-rate cubicle drone. Yet over time we witness her personal/character development with increasing interest.

For some reason I was hooked from the start even though it's just a slow minimalist indie movie. As we watch Ricki form an unlikely friendship with her new "coach", a troubled youth from a completely different background, we discover more about her dysfunctional family too.

Both the startup scene and the "hood" get depicted quite accurately yet mainly serve the story of the main characters, Ricki and Lucas. There is also a slowly developing romantic side story which works well but never really takes center stage.

The other characters mostly assist Ricki's self improvement journey. At the end she's much more empowered and likable and we know why. This is like a look behind the scenes of the shiny startup world, office politics and the wrong side of the tracks you usually won't find in other movies.

The story is quite unique yet Game Day plays it a bit too safe. You won't see any Jungle Fever e.g. Sure, the boyfriend is a communist but it's more of a running gag. So it's just an 8 for me. I gave it a 7 at first but as it's currently way underrated I decided that 8 is more fitting.

Yet I hope the writer/director will create even more courageous and inspiring movies in the future. It's already quite impressive how deep of a story he told in his very first feature movie, especially given that the main character is a woman.

The 101 minutes did not feel that long at all despite the slow pace. The basketball game at the end even added some suspense and drama.

So first off this is clearly a romance movie. As an empath I'm probably one of the few men enjoying this genre.

There is not even comedy in it. In case you expect action, drama, suspense or cheap laughs - you're in the wrong place.

As a romance it clearly works. It's a feel good, enjoyable and relatable little romance on a budget.

Even though it was clear for me from the start who is in love with whom the characters don't know yet so we watch them realizing it slowly. This is actually intriguing.

When do the sparks fly exactly? Which gesture, word or break make the difference? Love in Focus really focuses on tiny nuances.

Sometimes it's too obvious for me yet for general audiences it probably won't.

Even though you know and expect them to fall for each other you still have to really look closely when and how it happens.

Thus this movie is epic in the original sense of the word. Even though we know the outcome we wonder "how do they get there"?

The drawbacks for most people will be that the movie is quite slow paced and most scenes play inside. So we don't see much happening or even the mountain scenery a lot.

There are no real problems or conflicts so we have the eerie feeling that it's "too good to be true". We're just conditioned to expect the next dramatic turn of events from other movies or our beliefs that "life is hard" and other popular myths.

Do you enjoy happy people becoming even happier? Then you will love this. For depressing, brutal or ridiculous scenes look up your average Hollywood production.

When you make it till the end this movie will make you a bit happier as well. If you can't hold your attention that long I recommend some meditation techniques to get over your attention deficit.

So I wanted something easygoing that won't ruin my day or make me sad. For that purpose This Is the Year was the correct choice.

Yet it's also quite forgettable. You can watch it even more than once. How do I know? Somewhere after 20 minutes I realized that I knew the movie already. Usually I remember a movie after a scene or two.

The characters are likeable, the story somewhat a new take on an old story. There are more or less predictable ups and downs. There is some visible character development.

So why just 6 of 10 stars? The movie is not memorable because it tries too hard to make everybody happy. All the kids and young adults are likeable. The alcohol drinking, conflicts and problems are too timid to feel real.

The only "bad guy" is for some reason the older "spiritual" boyfriend who's only a caricature of spirituality ("positive vibes only"). That ruined it a bit for me. Why pick on being spiritual? They could have made him a bit more career-driven. That would be more likely and relatable.

For a road trip movie leading to a festival there was not enough "sex, drugs and rock and roll."

So watch this harmless coming of age movie with your preteen kids if you want. The insights are valuable but too Captain Obvious for an adult audience IMHO. Otherwise it's a guilty pleasure for a slow day or when you're sick.

Also kudos for the leads: they were both in their late twenties yet played teens and I didn't even notice until I looked it up here.