Just in time for Valentine’s Day weekend, the movie “How To Be Single” hits theaters with a much needed dose of side-splitting humor and romance reality check, while making its mark as what is sure to become a new rom-com (though light on the “rom”) classic for people to watch with their single friends and a shared bottle of wine.
This film follows the life of a recently single girl named Alice (Dakota Johnson) who has taken a “break” from her long-time college boyfriend in an attempt to “see what’s out there.” Shortly after realizing that maybe she wasn’t ready to be alone, she asks for him back. To her dismay, he has moved on.
Now, Alice has no choice but to face the fact that she is both completely, one-hundred percent single, and also one-hundred percent unprepared to learn how to date again. Luckily, with the help of her hilariously-absurd best friend Robin (Rebel Wilson) she finds herself figuring out what the single life is all about, one sexual escapade and dating blunder at a time.
The best part about this movie is that it takes the typical expectations of a romantic comedy and kicks them right in the head. Starring four excellent female leads, all of whom brilliantly execute their complex characters, this movie makes audiences perk up and then double over laughing at each new story development and interaction.
Rebel Wilson often steals the show with her crude humor and outrageous moments of doing things like “tit punching” her best friend and chugging Pedialyte to cure a hangover, but in a way that is still infinitely more tasteful than her last movie “Pitch Perfect 2.”
This movie actually takes a step in the right direction for women, instead of setting us back.
It also shows different types of “single”: the single woman who is lost in how it all works, the single woman who is ridiculously signed up for 10 dating sites trying to find “the one,” the workaholic woman who insists on her independence and runs from love, and the woman who loves being single, instigating one-night stands and being the perfect wing-woman. What all of these women have in common in this movie is that eventually, they grow to own their relationship statuses and each set out in different paths of (non-cheesy) self-discovery and realize their own individual truths and pursuits of happiness.
How To Be Single is definitely worth the money. It is filled with some brief serious and romantic moments that will fill your heart, as well as many cringe-worthy yet comical twists that so accurately reflect what navigating dating can be like. It appeals to all audiences regardless of the fact that the leads are all women, as was confirmed by the row of guys laughing hysterically with me in the theater.
Contrary to our society’s perceptions of being single, this movie shows that it’s really okay to be on your own, and sometimes it’s honestly more fun that way. If you find yourself free and single this Valentine’s Day, don’t be afraid to buy a ticket for one. Go cry from laughter at a movie by yourself, and treat yourself to a nice dessert afterwards that you won’t have to worry about sharing. Sometimes, being single really pays off, and this movie is proof of that.