A Case of You (2013)

A reviewer said that our protagonist was basing his interest in the girl solely on looks. That is not true. He saw her every day interacting with customers at the coffee shop. He liked her spirit.Reviewers also can't understand why she would like our guy, especially since he was a faker. But you can't account for attraction. She saw the real him all along and liked it. Perhaps she was flattered that he made such an effort to accommodate her interests.Women have intuition that guides them in relationships. She liked him. Let's accept that and move on.Just Long's comedic timing was perfect in this one. It's like he was channeling Woody Allen without actually copying him. I also thought the cameos were fine. You had a fast-talking publisher, a gay midget coffee guy, an oafish ex-boyfriend, and a wacky guitar teacher, all played by stars. They were good. No one went over the top, which would have been very easy to do.I think the best thing in this one was the roommate and his girlfriend. I'm not familiar with either actor, but they were natural, funny, down-to-earth, and genuinely helpful.I don't know the lead girl, Ms. Wood, but she sure is lovely. If her character was not a child of hippies, she would have a jock boyfriend.There was so much potential for this flick to fall into "Indie" stereotypes with a soundtrack, self-conscious performances, existential philosophy, and some depressing commentary on life. But this one didn't do that. The quirky pixie girl actually turned out to be a solid person with a forgiving soul and plenty of patience.Although I would love to know how she supports herself.One thing to note is that all her interests are wildly Left Wing, but she does explain that being due to her parentage. But I guess you could say that the one "Indie" stereotype is that the characters almost always love Godless, artsy stuff, and like most rom-coms, they seem to always live in New York. Trust me folks, N.Y. is not romantic at all. It's dirty, dangerous, crowded, and smelly.Good movie. Not particularly memorable, but worth a date night. Enjoy.

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."

This is a highly possible scenario, a man makes himself attractive to the object of his affection by making himself out to be interested in all her facebook likes. This Justin Long written movie is quite charming indie movie that isn't that great but is worth one watch.It's funny in some parts, touching in some parts and a bit strained in some parts.Even though Evan Rachel Wood is kind of out of someone who looks like Justin Long's league, she gives a convincing performance as being in love with him.The ending avoids clichés and is quite charming.Worth one watch

"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.