Last night my nephew and I went to the Broadway to see Finding Emily (I have quite a few movies from last weekend to catch up on). I am not a big fan of romantic comedies but I really enjoyed this! Owen Brompton (Spike Fearn) is a sound engineer at a student bar near Manchester City University where he meets and forms an immediate connection with a girl named Emily (Sadie Soverall). She quickly gives him her phone number when she leaves the bar but, when he tries to call her the next day, he realizes that she made a typo in her haste. He is desperate to find her so he begins looking for her at the university. His search leads him to another Emily (Angourie Rice), a psychology student working on her thesis about the self-destructive nature of romantic attachment, and she thinks he will be a perfect case study for her research so she offers to help him find his Emily. Of course Owen and Emily fall for each other, which invalidates her conclusions, but not before they cause mayhem on campus with their search and eventually find the original Emily. This is incredibly predictable and you know exactly what will happen beat for beat as soon as Owen interrupts Emily's class for their meet cute but it has a sparkling energy and a message about the travails of finding love in the digital age that kept me engaged. I really loved all of the music (any movie that features "Blue Monday" by New Order will always get a positive review from me) and I enjoyed all of the eccentric side characters, particularly a militant Emily (Kat Ronney) who mobilizes all of the other Emilys on campus against Owen because she believes he is a stalker. Fearn, who is so endearing, and Rice, who gives an earnest performance, have genuine chemistry and are very charming together. It does go on a bit longer than it needs to but I had so much fun watching this (I laughed out loud multiple times) and I highly recommend it!
