
In his film How To Date Billy Walsh Alex Pillai has not only made a contribution to the field of YA literature, more specifically Romantic Comedies but has also incorporated Fleabagn style fourth wall breaking narration through the male lead. Perhaps I am getting old, old enough to no longer relish chick flicks and movies specifically geared to target younger demographics. However, let me point out that irrespective of my age, I found this movie difficult to get through. I really did not have much to expect from this particular movie but just like in most of the movies, everything was unappealing apart from the cast selection.
The film traces the relationship between Amelia Charlotte Chandran and Archie Sebastian and shows how the two of them lock best friends from childhood. He has loved her forever but does not tell her because it might spoil the friendship as in the worst case Amelia may not reciprocate her feelings. However, one day, he gathers all his strength and energy to confess, but then he faces an unfortunate turn of events. A new American transfer student Billy Walsh Tanner Buchanan, He’s All That, comes on to ruin Archie’s plans. Amelia sights Billy and feels the urge to ask Archie for help although he is still love sick. She goes ahead husband when prom comes closer and asks him to accompany her. Rather than assist Amelia in bringing the danger of losing his longing best friend he chooses to sabotage the growing relationship.
I know that How to Date Billy Walsh is a young adult novel, though I am quite a fan of romcoms. I mean, She’s All That, How to Lose A Guy in 10 Days, or even the all-time favorite, 10 Things I Hate About You so all of these movies were quite my favorites. There’s no way in the present or the future any character is going to top Heath Ledger singing Frank Valli’s ‘Can’t Take My Eyes Off You’ to Julia Stiles’ Kat Stratford while being accompanied by a school band. You just can’t!
The trouble with romantic comedies produced in recent years is simply because it does not bring that emotion that is associated with that kind of genre. It’s just the usual movie plot of a guy hopelessly infatuated with his best friend as opposite to a girl, who has been done before and what is bad in it The only problem is, the plot is boring and there is no spark between the cast. As Archie replayed how he got embroiled in this haze, I kept on pondering Are we really supposed to empathize with him? His viewpoint was rather difficult to grasp. He made his best friend endure disgrace after disdainful disgrace without sympathy. He acts as a ‘love doctor’ – an old man giving relationship advice while pretending to be an old man via AIs that make him appear old as well.
In a desperate attempt, Amelia calls the “love doctor” and pours out her heart to him. Little did she know that this so-called doctor was a fake and would use her feelings against her in every way possible.
The main characters are expected to be likable and someone the audience would be supportive of, but such is not the case with Archie because there is literally nothing interesting about him. The man is chauffeur driven, lives in a fancy house, and is quite capable of buying whatever he fancies. He’s able to rent an entire cinema just to express how much he loves Amelia. For a majority of the picture, Archie seems to occupy the role of a loser. He just cannot get it into his head that Amelia could be interested in someone who is not him. He then wilds in order to tell lies to her and destroy her feelings for Billy.
With Billy, although he is the titular character and the movie is called after he wrote her name. I don’t know who he is. In my perception, he simply exists to assist her whenever supreme time calls for it. Or simply tread the corridors of their school watching her classmates make a fool of every young girl named Amelia. Probably the least engaging character in How to Date Billy Walsh, who in fact has no life, was played by Archie Walsh who observes the action from the sidelines.
The only one who deserves to be the focus of the story is Amelia, and the film decides to simply treat her as this dumb friend of hers, although she is quite smart and even funny in the beginning of the film! I remember supporting Chandran, who performed as Edwina Sharma in Bridgerton. Unfortunately, How to Date Billy Walsh did not do justice to her talent. She does all that she can to put out her charms but the plot and everything that surrounds this film becomes a dull, monotonous and incomprehensible collage. In as much as any of you have expectations about this movie, please, I beg of you, do not let your excitement get the better of you. Nohands down! What do you think. Lower it even now. Turn your eyes away from the screen and go for a walk.
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