Review: What If
Please note: This article is published as an archive copy from Philadelphia City Paper. My City Paper is not affiliated with Philadelphia City Paper. Philadelphia City Paper was an alternative weekly newspaper in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The last edition was published on October 8, 2015.
[Grade: B+] The twinkly back-and-forth between What If's two leads, seasoned with just the right amount of creative-class whimsy, softens the built-in barriers of the genre.
City Paper grade: B+
Michael Dowse’s latest doesn’t quite do for rom-coms what his awesomely vulgar Goon did for the numskull sports movie — that is, prove that a script with hundreds of F-bombs and menstruation jokes can also be oddly heartfelt. But the twinkly back-and-forth between What If’s two leads, seasoned with just the right amount of creative-class whimsy, softens the built-in barriers of the genre. Sad-sack med-school dropout Wallace (Daniel Radcliffe) drags through day-to-day life in Toronto, directionless since breaking up with his disloyal ex. Then he meets Chantry (Zoe Kazan), a quirky animator with compatible senses of curiosity and humor — perfect for him, but committed to longtime boyfriend Ben (Rafe Spall), who, of course, is a dick. The When Harry Met Sally school of platonic gender relations is cited early and often, with all the expected “will they?” moments and advice-bestowing besties (Adam Driver as his zany pal; Megan Park as her desperate sister) opining while browsing tchotchke shops and plodding down sidewalks. But even though the bones aren’t fresh, the spirit and sentiment is. Radcliffe nails the malaise of the rudderless urban twentysomething with detail and dimension, while Kazan, who needs to be a bigger star, is the saving-grace acquaintance we all want to make at the stuffy cocktail party. The tension when they’re together is as intellectual as it is sexual, and that makes it damn believable.
