I have a real problem imagining Kaley Cuoco ever so much as entertaining the thought of Pete Davidson as a significant other. This creates something of an immediate problem, seeing as they are thrown together here. I have sat all the way through this and still cannot be totally sure that Davidson has any actual acting prowess at all. To be fair, this may not be Davidson's vehicle, or his opportunity to shine, even, but I would be hoping at the very least more than just a sounding board for anyone who delivers lines at him.
Cuoco doesn't fare much better either. As much as I hold many firm and fond feelings for her, there is no getting away from the fact that there's no getting away with this. It's not as clever, complex nor as funny as it thinks it is. So much so that this had already become quite the tiresome enterprise and that's before you're half way through.
The main issue that this suffers from is that it is patently unfunny and lacks the soul it is trying to convince us it has. It is not well written, just well enough to keep going, but you still get the feeling that the whole thing could quite simply collapse in on itself at any moment. The plot is questionably fragile and the viewer can be forgiven for wondering when exactly this will stop playing at being a movie, and magically, somehow, actually become one.
It desperately wants you to think of this and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind in the same wistful, quirky fashion, but the gaps between them are vast and glaring. If only this had been better in every way, then I could have loved it, but as it is, I'd just be lying to myself.
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