This new comedy follows the lives of four single women in New York. Alice (Dakota Johnson), newly arrived in the city after taking a break from her boyfriend; Meg (Leslie Mann), Alice’s older sister who is a workaholic doctor; Robin (Rebel Wilson) a party girl who works with and befriends Alice; and Lucy (Alison Brie) who is looking for love via online dating services.
The first half of this film is a complete mess. Alice comes across as tiresome, and Robin annoying. Meg’s character initially seems interesting as she is a woman who doesn’t want or even like children. However, this is a mainstream Hollywood movie, so they couldn’t possibly persist with a character who has that opinion. She suddenly and illogically changes her mind and decides to try IVF. Lucy is largely sidelined, and comes across as charming though a little desperate.
At about the half way mark, things begin to improve. Robin gets some funny lines and new, more sympathetic characters are introduced, principally Ken (Jake Lacy) who starts a relationship with Meg, and George who falls for Lucy. George is played by Jason Mantzoukas who dials down his usual craziness a little and is very funny.
The film doesn’t totally redeem itself, Alice still is largely unlikable, Meg comes across as a cliché and the overall message is a little confused, but it becomes watchable as it goes on.
Rating: 5 out of 10