The romance genre and crying go hand in hand, but as more and more films from this genre get produced, the more creative studios have to get with how they bring out the emotions of the audience. It can't always be cancer, and audiences are more in-tune with the clichés of the genre, so more often than not, they're now having to subvert stereotypes.
'Long Weekend' follows Bart (Finn Wittrock, 'Judy', 'La La Land'), who has a random encounter with Vienna (Zoe Chao, 'Sell By', 'Downhill'), a free-spirited and mysterious individual, contradicting his down-on-life attitude. The two hit it off and fall deeply in love - but they both have secrets beneath the surface.
'LONG WEEKEND' TRAILER
On the surface, 'Long Weekend' is a pretty straightforward, paint-by-numbers romance film with a run-of the-mill screenplay, but it does hold its own due to the fantastic chemistry between Wittrock and Chao. The film is nothing game-changing; it's just perfectly middle.
The film does have a twist on top of another twist that engaged me more than if it was just a straightforward romantic drama. Still, it relies on typical romance tropes and never quite subverts them enough to make this feel fresh or new, and as is it is, it's just another film on the gigantic romance pile.
On the surface, 'Long Weekend' is pretty straightforward, run of the mill screenplay, paint by numbers romance film but it does hold its own due to the fantastic chemistry between Wittrock and Chao. The film is nothing game changing it's just perfectly middle.
Both Damon Wayans Jr ('Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar', 'How to be Single') - the best Wayans - and Casey Wilson ('Gone Girl', 'The Disaster Artist') serve as a bit of comedic relief and are actually both quite good here, but yet again the movie is just a little too predictable.
'Long Weekend' does paint itself into a little bit of a corner due to its formulaic script, but its more-than-charming cast keeps this from being a total miss. Along with a pretty interesting twist, 'Long Weekend' is worth the casual watch.