Casting Call Friday: A Minor Rant

Today's casting call is going to discuss One Day by David Nicholls....
I know what you're thinking!
*ahem*

Janelle, you're cheating! This book has already been reviewed. It's already being turned into a movie. We've already discussed it's two cast members--Anne Hathaway and Jim Sturgess--so you can't cast a book that's already cast!

You're right. It has been cast. HOWEVER, I just re-read it and I'm a bit bothered!

Honestly, I don't have a problem with the foxy Jim Sturgess:

I'm not one to argue with beauty. Or talent for that matter. Sturgess has great range, with performances in films such as Across the Universe,  The Other Boleyn Girl and 21. There's no doubt in my mind he will make a fantastic Dexter. I think he'll successfully capture Dexter's arrogance, his insecurity, his charisma. I think he'll convincingly showcase Dexter coming of age. Um, and he's also a Brit. So this? This makes me happy. 

It's this part that disturbs me:

Anne Hathaway as Emma?? REALLY??

I'm not hating on Anne Hathaway. Not at all. I think she's done some really great work. I liked The Devil Wears Prada. I'm  really interested in seeing her in her upcoming film with Jake Gyllenhaal, Love and Other Drugs and she was FANTASTIC in Shakespeare in the Park's Twelfth Night. So, no, I don't dislike her. 

My problem is this...there are several other actresses, BRITISH actresses, that could do this role justice. We could state the obvious and go with Emily Blunt. I think she'd make an amazing Emma. I totally see her as Emma in the beginning of the novel, where she's rocking her red, asymmetrical hair cut and is disheveled. Her character is Sunshine Cleaning shares quite a few parallels to Emma's story. She possesses the snark, the sass, and the intelligence needed. Oh? and she's a Brit. 

If we were going to go American, why couldn't we have picked Michelle Williams?? Michelle Williams has consistently proven that she's a chameleon, from giving major vamp as Jen on Dawson's Creek to growing in roles like Alma Beers in Brokeback Mountain to eventually portraying Marilyn Monroe!

I understand, film powers that be, that you want a commercially viable actress but there are so many to choose from and I truly, truly believe that there are some serious powerhouse players that weren't considered. I just don't think that Anne Hathaway is a great fit. We need someone who can give us someone who is down in the trenches but makes her way up. Someone indie, someone edgy, someone slightly gritty but able to transform (and don't you dare show me The Princess Diaries). I just feel like this casting choice is way off base...

So there's my rant. Am I, in all of my whining, wrong? Do you see someone else as Emma? Are there any books-into-movies casts you've had problems with?

Review - One Day by David Nicholls

Synopsis (via Goodreads): Emma and Dexter meet for the first time on the night of their graduation. Tomorrow they must go their separate ways. So where will they be on this one day next year? And the year after that? And every year that follows? Twenty years, two people, One Day. From the author of the massive bestseller Starter for Ten.



Review: I found this book almost by accident, not really knowing anything about it except that I saw the movie Starter for Ten (I will watch anything with James McAvoy…seriously, ANYTHING) and liked it. Judging from Starter for Ten, I expected something Nick Hornsby-esque from David Nicholls. A sort of “guy lit” if you will. And there are aspects of that in One Day, but he writes from Emma’s point of view so well and with such honesty that it feels like the perfect meeting of chick lit and guy lit (I'm sorry, but I will not call it "dick lit." I feel like that's almost as insulting as people who say "chick lit" with that condescending sneer).

One Day follows the lives of Emma and Dexter year after year, always on July 15th, St. Swithin’s Day. We meet the characters immediately after they’ve graduated from university and I instantly connected to both Emma and Dexter, being in my late twenties myself. As they navigated their mid- to late-twenties, trying to figure out where they fit into the world, I related maybe a bit too much, especially to Emma (I think the actual words “oh my God, this character is me” might have gone though my head once or twice). I saw friends in elements of Dexter (though perhaps not to his extreme) and wanted to shake him as he continually overlooked the obvious and made choices that were incredibly destructive.

Both characters are flawed, but likable. As much of an ass as Dexter can be, you can’t help but see him through Emma’s eyes and have a certain affection for the conceited screw-up. You knew there was a good, smart man beneath the booze and women. Similarly, you see Emma as Dexter sees her, a brilliant, beautiful woman with far too little self-confidence.

One Day doesn’t try to be anything it’s not. It’s an engaging (I think I read it within the span of 48 hours), fun story, that you could easily imagine being a blockbuster rom com. There’s a certain amount of emotional manipulation that Nicholls uses, particularly toward the end, (Janelle, I think you will see some tear stains on that copy I gave you) which I bought into, but also put me off a little. Even as I was crying I was groaning a bit at the “twist” Nicholls threw in there.

My only other complaint is the slight predictability of the characters. Neither really surprised me from year to year. I really enjoyed the book and was eager to see where the characters would be from year to year, but wasn’t blown away but anything. There’s something missing that takes this from “eh, that was pretty good” to “OMG best book EVER.”

What I think I liked most about Nicholls is that, judging from what I've seen so far, he writes character-driven stories that are gender neutral.  Whether you're into "guy lit" or “chick lit” One Day is entirely enjoyable, full of humor, drama, and a bit of romance.

And, just a note to Hollywood producers: I’ll be waiting impatiently for my James McAvoy rom com adaptation which needs to happen as soon as possible.

Lit Snit Verdict: B+