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Archives for : Sara Zandieh

Movie Review: “The Other Zoey” is a Feel-Good Rom-Com

As the leaves start to fall and the weather gets cooler, a wave of heavy dramas begins to preoccupy the box office. That’s right, it’s awards season! Us critics, usually get excited as this is equivalent to our football season. But it’s nice to get a break from all those intense storylines and be treated to a heartwarming romantic comedy. Especially, one with a charming cast and enchanting love triangle.

Director Sara Zandieh brings us this sweet story that follows Zoey Miller (Josephine Langford), a smart and somewhat cynical college student who believes finding “the one” involves science, not love. She thinks rom-coms like “Notting Hill” and “Say Anything” are idiotic and unrealistic. She even created an app that will statistically find your perfect match. But when the school’s soccer stud, Zach (Drew Starkey) gets amnesia and mistakes Zoey as his girlfriend, she unexpectedly gets caught in a love triangle between Zach and his cousin, Miles (Archie Renaux). Zoey and Miles share similar interests, but do Zoey and Zach share more chemistry?

“The Other Zoey” is almost nostalgic, referencing classic romantic comedies, while also bringing back that comfort and joy we’d feel from watching 90’s movies like “While You Were Sleeping”. It’s also nice to see stars like Andie MacDowell and Heather Graham in the rom-com setting again. The real gem is the spark that forms between Langford and Starkey. It’s hard to imagine her with anyone other than Hero Fiennes Tiffin (from the “After” series), but it’s nice to see her involved in a more wholesome relationship, even if she’s juggling two different guys.

From a distance this appears to be to be another well produced love story that could stream on Netflix, but if you take a deeper look, you will find the talented leads and quirky plot is worthy of a relaxing and fun trip to the theaters. Best of all, Zandieh provides a message about love that everyone can relate to. If we’ve only grown up around broken relationships, it’s hard not to think so critically about love. As a way to protect ourselves from heartache, we try to be logical and remove the romance part of a relationship when looking for our person. However, if you can let go of that control and lead with your heart, instead of your head, you’re more likely to FALL in love rather than FIND it.

“The Other Zoey” is a familiar but cute and entertaining tale of how opposites attract. Highly recommend everyone go see this delightful romantic comedy.

Rating: B+

THE OTHER ZOEY

Opens in Theaters October 20 & On Demand November 10.

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Movie Review: “A Simple Wedding” is a Joyous Occasion

Growing up, I watched so many rom-coms and admired actresses like Meg Ryan, Molly Ringwald, Sandra Bullock, and so many other women playing characters looking for love. To an extent I could relate to them and their awkward/quirky personalities, but I never really saw myself. It might be part of the reason why I never thought I’d get that kind of romance in my life (I was wrong).

In these last couple of years, Hollywood has revived romantic comedies by bringing other cultures to light (i.e. Crazy, Rich, Asians & The Big Sick). Even Netflix has stepped it up with To The Boys I Loved Before and Always Be My Maybe. And just by watching these films with ethnic leads, I have felt slightly more represented. Because, as an Iranian-American, this is as close as it’s going to get. Luckily, that’s not true.

Director/writer, Sara Zandieh brings us, A Simple Wedding. The film follows Nousha (Tara Grammy), a thirty-something woman trying to avoid the pressures of marriage by her traditional Persian family. After purposely sabotaging her latest engagement, she unexpectedly locks eyes with a bisexual, artist named Alex (Christopher O’Shea) while at her friend’s protest. Their connection is instant. And after a passionate first date, the two become inseparable and eventually move in together.

However, Nousha’s family has no idea Alex exists. That is until they see him half-naked during a facetime chat. This leaves them no choice but to have Alex finally meet Nousha’s mom (Shohreh Aghdashloo), dad (Houshang Touzie), and grandma (Jaleh Modjallel). They are less than thrilled that he’s not a Persian doctor, and even more bothered by the fact that they are living together; and they can’t have their daughter living in sin. Within minutes of their first meeting, Nousha’s family has somehow gotten the couple engaged, and are planning a quick and “simple” wedding. An already complicated situation becomes more complicated when Alex’s family comes into the picture, and the two cultures collide.

The creators of My Big Fat Greek Wedding bring us a similar formula, but different ingredients. There’s insight into the Persian culture/wedding traditions, and a fair amount of focus on both set of parents. This time producer, Rita Wilson is in front of the screen as Alex’s divorced mom who can’t stand being around her ex (Peter McKenzie) and his hubby (James Eckhouse). Yet, she does like spending time around Nousha’s uncle, Saman (Maz Jobrani).

All the family members do a wonderful job portraying loving, yet at times hilariously selfish parents. O’Shea effortlessly plays a true, free spirit who loves whole-heartedly; not seeing race or religion. But at its core, the film thrives on Grammy’s endearing performance. She doesn’t play a woman who seeks love and feels lonely. She’s smart, independent, has great friends, and a good job. She’s not this loser girl that finally got a guy to notice her. She just finally noticed the guy, and wants to continue the relationship without any expectations.

I know I’m gushing quite a bit about this film, and I am sure I’m being bias given the subject matter. With the news lately, it’s nice to see Persians presented in a more positive perspective. But I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: Everyone deserves to be represented, no matter your race, orientation, size, etc. And no matter who you are, you can relate to the message this film offers about how love requires “sacrifice, understanding, and forgiveness.”

This movie has its flaws, but it’s sincere. And if you still enjoy the simple romantic comedies we used to indulge in back in the 80’s & 90’s, then allow yourself to enjoy A Simple Wedding. It’s a sweet date night flick, and an all-around fun time.

Rating: 4/5

A Simple Wedding opens in theaters and On Demand (Including Amazon and iTunes) February 14, 2020.

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