Nerdly » ‘Plus One’ Review

07th Feb2020

‘Plus One’ Review

by Alain Elliott

Stars: Maya Erskine, Jack Quaid, Ed Begley Jr., Alex Anfanger, Kiersten Armstrong, Jennifer Bartels, Jon Bass, Joe Bays, Emma Bell, Beck Bennett, Scarlett Bermingham | Written and Directed by Jeff Chan, Andrew Rhymer

I’ll say it straight away. I don’t really like romantic comedies or ‘rom-coms’ as they are better known. Hate is probably too strong a word but I can count on one hand how many I have enjoyed. And I have to say pretty much they exact same thing about weddings. They’re generally long, bring affairs and I’ve thankfully not been invited to many (maybe there’s a link there?!). So a romantic comedy about weddings might seem like the last thing I’d choose to watch but I do like to at least give ‘new’ things a go.

I’m very glad I did. Plus One had me smiling from start to finish. It’s a simple story. After realising they will both be heading to a lot of weddings one summer, two single best friends decide to go with each other as there ‘plus ones’ and at least make each event somewhat entertaining.

The script is actually as predictable as you might expect after reading the synopsis. Even someone like me who has watched very few rom-coms, knew exactly where it was heading and what was going to happen. But maybe that tells you how good the script is and how good the performances that it is still a highly enjoyable movie.

The two central performances come from Jack Quaid (as Ben) and Maya Erskine (as Alice) are key to why the film flows so well. It’s not the most original of relationships on paper but the two (as actors and the characters) bounce off of each other so well that it feels new and fresh. They both have flaws – Ben possibly more than Alice – but they feel like normal flaws that we all have. These are still nice people just trying to get through life, which can seem pretty happy at times especially when you’re single, in the best way possible. And that means with each other by their side.

I think almost everybody can relate to the two characters, you’ll understand completely what they are going through.

Quaid seems a naturally good actor – I enjoyed him in The Boys recently and although I could see him get typecast, he is very good in that single ‘nice’ guy role. I haven’t seen Erskine in any major role before but in Plus One she is delightful – really fantastic. She could fit nicely alongside any of the Hollywood comedy heavyweights and I hope she gets that chance soon.

I’ve mentioned it briefly already but I think I liked Plus One so much because it just made me smile alot. When it’s funny it makes you laugh out loud, when it gets serious it will still make you grin a little and when it gets emotional it will make you cry before you smile again.

Plus One makes you look at your own life and think about how you want it to be the best it can be, the happiest it can be. And that can only be a good thing.

The biggest compliment I can give Plus One is that it might make me watch some more rom-coms (MIGHT!), because if they are half as entertaining as this, then I’ll probably enjoy them.