Directed by: Marius Vaysberg
Distributed by: United Artists Releasing
Written by Jeff Sparks
50/100
“About Fate” stars Emma Roberts, Thomas Mann, Cheryl Hines, and Madelaine Petsch. Roberts and Mann play Margot and Griffin, two romantics who find that their current relationships haven’t turned out the way they wanted. When they both find themselves without dates on New Year’s Eve, they are forced to spend it together after they meet by chance. 2022 has not been kind to Emma Roberts in terms of her career. During the summer I reviewed the other film she starred in titled “Abandoned,” which is one of the worst movies I’ve seen in years. “About Fate” isn’t that bad, but it’s still a generic project. The direction of Vaysberg and the writing of Tiffany Paulsen don’t do anything to differentiate this movie from any romantic comedy that you’ve seen before. The usual tropes of telegraphed themes and obvious joke setups are all present. Most of the jokes either don’t stick the landing or can be seen coming a mile away. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t chuckle here and there, but overall no one in the film has any natural comedic genius within them to bolster these scenes, other than Hines who shines in her limited screen time. Although Hines’s presence is always valuable, she’s mostly featured in the latter half of the film which takes place at a wedding. This section unfortunately feels stagnant compared to the first half which features the two main characters in all sorts of different locations that keep the pace aflow.
As for the romantic side of the movie, Roberts and Mann work fine together but aren’t anything memorable. Neither of them gives a great performance, but they aren’t bad by any means either. A simple project like this doesn’t call for a Cate Blanchett “Tár” like performance. Even though “Abandoned” was an awful project and “About Fate” isn’t a good showcase of her talents, it’s a common misconception that Roberts is a bad actress. Even though she doesn’t always give a great performance in every film that she’s in, she has done it before in “The Blackcoat’s Daughter.” As I said, no one watches rom-coms like “About Fate” for the performances. The way I see it some people watch them to relax and watch something that only aspires to entertain them for two hours, while others, like me, watch them to see actors that they like in fun roles. “About Fate” certainly serves both purposes.
“About Fate” Trailer
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