‘One Day’ leaves audiences confused, unaffected

By Caitlin Cress

You know how the book is always better than the movie? (Well, not “The Notebook.” But that’s the only exception.) “One Day” is a perfect example of this rule. The 2011 film adaptation of David Nicholls’ 2009 New York Times bestselling novel does not live up to readers’ expectations.

“One Day” tells the story of Dexter and Emma, focusing on every July 15 in their lives from 1988 through the present. Emma is a struggling writer, moving from London to Paris and back again, and Dexter is a struggling television host. Their lives intersect and diverge over the years; their strong friendship and the love they have for each other are the only things that hold their lives, and, ultimately, the movie, together.

The novel spends hundreds of pages developing the characters’ relationship and personalities, allowing the reader to truly become attached to Dexter and Emma. The run-time of the movie does not allow the audience to fall in love with them in quite the same way. I watched the film with two of my roommates. Neither of them had read the book, and our movie-watching experiences were very different. When the movie jumped from year to year, there were often ends left hanging and questions left unanswered. I could fill in the blanks because of my knowledge of the book, but they didn’t have any such luck. One roommate said that she was just “going with the flow,” and not focusing on the confusion. The incomplete story that the screenplay told left for a disappointing conclusion. An ending that honestly left me in tears while reading the novel was more confusing than anything else during the film.

Anne Hathaway as Emma was absolutely the shining star of the film. The filmmakers try valiantly to make Hathaway look plain and fail miserably. Hathaway as an adult is simply too glamorous to pull off the Mia Thermopolis-style make-under from 2001’s “The Princess Diaries.” While her put-on accent often makes her rather difficult to understand, the audience grows to empathize with her character rather quickly.

Hathaway’s Emma is much more likeable than Jim Sturgess’ Dexter. Dexter is just a jerk, and by the time he fixes that character flaw, it’s too late for the audience to grow to like him. Sturgess is perfectly charming, I suppose, but his character is strange and full of holes. His character development is hurt the most by the choppy screenwriting. In addition, the filmmakers seemed to be under the impression that graying an actor’s hair will make him appear older. This is definitely not the case. Sturgess looks exactly the same throughout the film, even after twenty years have supposedly passed.

I watched “One Day” on a lazy Saturday night with two girlfriends, which is the only way the movie should be watched. Don’t try and watch it alone; you’ll be bored. And if you really want to follow the story, read the book first. You’ll enjoy the movie more, I promise.