"The Irony of Fate in Hollywood": a review of a remake of Soviet classics
Miscellaneous / / September 14, 2022
The film was released in Russian cinemas.
On September 9, the picture About Fate was released, localized in Russian as "The Irony of Fate in Hollywood". A free remake of the Soviet classics, as expected, turned out to be terrible.
The plot of the film is only partly reminiscent of "The Irony of Fate, or Enjoy Your Bath!". Advocate Griffin proposes to his girlfriend on December 30, to which she refuses (she will agree a little later, but it does not matter). In the same cafe and at the same moment, Margo and Kip break up. For the girl, this is not only a personal drama, but also a reputational blow - the next day she had to go to her sister's wedding with her boyfriend. On December 31, Griffin gets drunk with friends in the bathhouse, after which he takes a taxi to his house and goes to bed. After a couple of hours, it turns out that he did not come to himself, but to Margot - they almost have the same address. The heroine is going to expel the man, but suddenly asks him to play the role of her gentleman at the celebration. He agrees.
This is the classic romantic comedy of the 2000s.
The film continues the tradition of American romantic comedies of the 2000s. A few jokes about Tinder are added to the script, otherwise it is standard rom-com, and very bad. The picture even begins with "morning music" - a common device from the cinema of that period, when the characters under the credits brush their teeth and prepare for the next day.
In "The Irony of Fate in Hollywood" there is a lot of talk about fate - also a classic attribute of rom-coms. The main characters love the same movie, live at similar addresses, and their biographies abound with coincidences. There is also a dramatic ending.
When viewing, it becomes clear why the genre has lost popularity: it is very difficult to watch banal plot twists. Sometimes it seems that the tape lasts 5 or 6 hours, because absolutely every step is predictable and at the same time it is stretched to the maximum possible time period.
In addition, "The Irony of Fate in Hollywood" - comedy unfunny. The script is simply crammed with "uncomfortable" situations, from which the characters come out "with humor." About a third of these moments are related to the fact that one of the characters is naked. The rest arise from the fact that the main character must portray a different person, and the episodes practically do not differ from each other.
Each time, the authors choose the most banal joke possible. And it turns out to predict not only the replicas, but also the intonations of the characters in a given situation.
This is a film with cheap drama and stupid characters.
There are too many dramatic moments in the new film. Sad music and sad faces appear on the screen about once every 10 minutes, often without a good reason. Sometimes it seems that the characters will cry if they yawn in public or make a reservation - problems like these lead to a bad mood.
At the same time, there is a feeling that all the characters in "The Irony of Fate in Hollywood" have mental disorders. They can throw a tantrum for 30 seconds and then pretend like nothing happened. So, in one of the scenes, Margot swears with her sister for about a minute, they point out flaws to each other, and then, as if on a click, they hug with the words “How I love you! Never change." Without a transition, the conflict just ended and a soulful scene began. Of course, under sugary music, which emphasizes the emotionality of the moment.
This is not "Irony of Fate" and not "in Hollywood"
The name of the film in Russian localization is too bright and provocative, but it has nothing to do with the picture. So, the plot only partly echoes the Soviet classics. Apart from the main twist, love lines and questions like “Who is this and what is he doing in your apartment?” coincide. This is where the intersections end, the overlaps with other films begin. "Portrait of Perfection", "Pretend to be My Wife", "Once Upon a Time in Vegas" - as in these tapes, the characters of "Irony of Fate in Hollywood" must pretend to be a couple. Moreover, with each of the listed works, the new film has much more in common than with cinema. Eldara Ryazanova.
The film also has a very indirect relationship to Hollywood. The director was Marius Weisberg, born in Moscow, the author of such films as "Hitler Kaput!", "Rzhevsky against Napoleon" and "Grandmother of easy virtue." Emma Roberts (We're the Millers) and Thomas Mann (Project X: Dorvali) starred in the leading roles - the cast is very modest. Filming took place in Boston. Which of the following is a “dream factory” is a mystery.
With the same success, you can call any American film "... in Hollywood." For example, "Forrest Gump" - "Afonya in Hollywood", "The Shawshank Redemption" - "Gentlemen of Fortune in Hollywood", "Twin Peaks" - "Streets of broken lights in Hollywood."
Already after the news about the upcoming remake, one could expect a disastrous film. The result in this regard did not disappoint. The result is a romantic comedy with bad jokes, which is just hard to watch. It is pointless to compare The Irony of Fate in Hollywood with the Soviet film, there is too little in common between them. And as an independent work, the new tape is simply not able to interest the viewer - it’s better to revise some classic rom-com, for example “Wedding Trouble” or “Intruders” with Vince Vaughn.
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