A Case of You (2013)

Load of rubbish!!

Am I Missing Something?

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

It isn't all that great, actually. Really cheesy and very predicable of how certain scenes are gonna turn play out. However, I guess that's the charm of it all, because I would consider this one of my guilty pleasures.

I liked this movie and first thought Justin Long and Rachel Wood were very mismatched. Changing my opinion early on, we realize that many people do not have a lot of confidence in finding love and dating in general. The couple meet in a local coffee shop were he finds her funny and engaging. He use resources on her Facebook page to have the courage to pursue her and invests all his energy in becoming all the things she likes on her Facebook interests. He's a movie writer and she loses her job in the coffee shop where they first met due to tardiness & he tracks her at a open acting forum and becomes diligent in learning many talents. Dancing, Rock climbing, camping, & guitar playing just to name a few. To know him is probably for some other movie, but he was a joy to see how dedicated he was to involve himself in all the hobbies and ambitions she has. I found it entertaining, somewhat predictable, but she also was aware of his charm no matter what his premise was. It was refreshing to see a couple develop a relationship no matter how flawed it was, and surely it was a novelty from the sexual posture all romantic comedies take on first.

Writer/producer Justin Long's 2013 rom- com, "A Case of You," was most notably viewed at the Tribeca Film Festival and had a very limited commercial run. Some critics were very harsh in their critique of Long's comedy about Sam, a dissatisfied film novelist who falls in love with a barista he meets at a Brooklyn coffee shop. I'm not sure if I would go as far as Rodrigo Perez did in "The Playlist" when he condemns "A Case of You" as the first Facebook "Stalker Comedy," but ultimately the film's premise is a thin one.The barista in question is one "Birdie," played by Evan Rachel Wood. After Birdie is fired from her job, Sam decides to seek her out but first decides to become familiar with all her Facebook hobbies. In that way, he reasons, she'll be drawn to him. A few of the bits are actually amusing, especially Justin's guitar lessons with a 90s music aficionado loser played by Sam Rockwell and Sam's agent and a literary consultant's critique of his new "art" novel based on his relationship with Birdie (their professional advice is that his protagonist is a narcissist which leads Sam to an epiphany that his phony way of courting Birdie is no longer working).The problem with most of this is that Sam is too much of a loser for us to have much sympathy for him. In real life, it's the ego-infused "bad boys" that should interest us, as they cross the ethical line with impunity and often (unfortunately), get away with it. In contrast, Long and his co-writers ask us to laugh at "sad sacks" like Sam due to their ineptitude and laughing at such characters with their attendant pratfalls, do little to tickle the funny bone.The narrative also occasionally goes too far, crossing into the realm of crude humor. Example: Roommate Eliot, who masturbates to pictures of Martha Stewart and a contemporary Carrie Fischer! To cap things off, we learn that Birdie has realized early on what Sam has been doing but still falls for him anyway (an unlikely turn of events unless you like sentimental endings). The theme of "A Case of You," is "To thine own self be true," with Sam finally realizing that being somebody else ultimately does not lead to success in the courtship game. What he should have done was watched Bill Murray's masterful performance in "Groundhog Day," a basic primer on the correct and incorrect way of "getting the girl."

How is it even possible to write a protagonist as unlikeable as Sam? First he decides to manipulate his dream girl Birdie (who, by the way, is his dream girl based solely on her looks since he's never talked to her but only stared creepy and longingly at her over his daily coffee) by memorizing her facebook. Then, when he seems to succeed, he flips out and shames Birdie for HIS actions, doing everything but physically abuse her. Then, for reasons unknown to anyone except for the script writers, Birdie chooses Sam anyway. And the audience is supposed to root for them.When, in the pretend-reality that follows an ending like this, Sam continues to verbally abuse and control Birdie based on his jealous imagination and complete lack of self esteem (because he will) I can only hope she ups and leaves him.

"A Case of You" is worth singling out if some great flicks like "Ruby Sparks" made you dig for more. Though, this movie is sort of reliving the dumb formula from the comparison. Okay, an honest opinion is that viewers will be fractured by the plot's predictability, but I'm buying. That doesn't prevent me from saying that the film is one of the sweet romantic comedies bolstered with energy from its young cast ensemble of bright comedians. I dunno, but call me crazy.Sam (Justin Long) is a well-known author that suffers a block to his next book. An inspiration is what he totally needs, suffice to say. Until she meets the cute blondie coffee gal named Birdie (Evan Rachel Wood), he develops a quirky obsession. As soon as Sam learns that she was fired for frequent tardiness at work, he decided to stalk her Facebook account and decisively scan her likes, interests, and routines. Sam is the ideal manly stalker. And one by one he tries to learn what she likes to do: Play the guitar, read Darwinian, and rock climbing. This is in no doubt a rudimentary principle of we follow in order to woo our special someone, and I admire the film for having the guts to deliver it regardless of being stereotyped.The chemistry between Long and Wood feels cheesy but endearing. Though, their kismet might be unfairly familiar but at least it's sugar-coated with their funny moment and both make it work. We also get the most of Keir O'Donnell as Sam's buddy roommate Eliot especially from his late- bloomer taboo jokes therein. And the same goes to Peter Dinklage as a gay barista and Brendan Fraser as Birdie's ex Tony. Too bad Dinklage and Fraser is alarmingly hilarious they deserve more time frame than Busy Philips and Vince Vaughn (although he's too substantial) who are both fruitless here. Also adding Sam Rockwell to the mix as the guitar lesson instructor, it gets ticklish funny.The credits for the screenplay goes to Justin, his brother Christian, and O'Donnell themselves. Kudos to them. They keep me howling in some of their one-liners and made me attracted to their persona. However, like I said their notion for the narrative may disappoint for its jaded impression. This explains why major distributors refused to finance the film for trust issues and let IFC do it anyway. Nevertheless, this made me look forward for Justin for his next screenplay pitch and see what he could bring new to the table other than acting well in this film. He's proved to be an actor and auteur.The film doesn't just focus on the love story per se. As we delve into Sam's motivational ease, we're starting to care for whether what he's potent feelings towards Birdie is ideal to be in his own writing or not. The message is too simple to guess, but heck we all have our Sams within us. If Sam don't end up winning Birdie's heart, at least she ends up helping him close the chapter."A Case of You" is essentially sweet quirky rom-com that kept me howling with hilarity straight up. If you're a fan of Ruby Sparks, this touching gem is worth singling out.