Myles is a struggling filmmaker trying to make his break in Los Angeles. He's also recently divorced, so he's trying to make his break in love, as well. With these two circumstances, he comes up with an idea: film his single life from a truthful, up-front perspective. No dramatic love scenes, no sex, but a real guy trying to meet the right real woman. It's an interesting idea, especially to those of us trying to do that exact thing every day.
So it's 20 dates, filmed. They experiment with styles, first letting the women in on what's going on, which is a bad idea because it takes away from the reality. Then they use some hidden cameras, which works well until Myles is sued for invasion of privacy...twice.
But the real problem comes when he meets the perfect woman, Elisabeth. The problem is that, unlike what would happen in the movies, she is not the last of the twenty. But Myles has made a commitment to his producer to go on and film twenty dates. So he's forced to decide between his relationship with Elisabeth and his desire to finish his film.
And whether or not you like this film will hinge in this part of the movie. My opinion is that it ends a bit too nicely: Myles finishes the twenty dates, but then we're told that she went along on all of them and agreed to let him go on them. So it's kind of a cop-out. There really is no struggle, no sacrifice after we think there's going to be one.
But an argument can also be made for the fact that it's reality and it really happened. Elisabeth understands what Myles has to do and is willing to sacrifice a few weeks for him to finish his film. The fact that it isn't shown to us seems to me a distortion of the facts. It's not a mockumentary and makes little effort to prove to us it is, so this isn't right. It just happens a bit too fast to me, like a tacked-on ending.
But this is my only complaint of a good film. I find it personal because I, like so many others, am also looking for that someone while trying to break into the business. I used to think the single life was great, but with experience from the past few years to change my mind, it's a scary, hellish place where the faint of heart dare not travel. With so many obstacles standing in your way, like diseases, freaks, and producers, it's a game I'd prefer to see end.
