Alex & The List (2017)

• Year: 2017
• Released: 04 May 2018
• Country: United States
• Adwords: 3 wins
• IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2905082/
• Rotten Tomatoes: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/alex_the_list
• Metacritics: https://www.metacritic.com/movie/alex-the-list
• Available in: 720p, 1080p,
• Language: English, Italian, Hebrew, Yiddish, Russian
• MPA Rating: TV-PG
• Genre: Comedy, Romance
• Runtime: 112 min
• Writer: Harris Goldberg, Kristen D’Alessio, Becca Johanson
• Director: Harris Goldberg
• Cast: Patrick Fugit, Jennifer Morrison, Karen Gillan
• Keywords: love, marriage proposal, dog trainer,

4.6/10

Alex & The List Storyline

Alex Buckingham and Katherine Stern as a couple isn’t obvious on the surface. Stylish Katherine, a Jewish princess, is more conventional in nature, while Alex, more comfortable in ripped jeans and a t-shirt in the great outdoors, is somewhat offbeat. While Katherine could probably have any man she wanted, Alex, who has some socialization issues, has had a spottier dating record, he most recently having emailed with Russian Anastasiya, who he met online, for companionship. Part of that problem with socialization is that he uses his best friend Lily’s family as his surrogate family, he unable to make a decision without Lily’s okay, and treating Lily’s adolescent son Nicky almost as his own, which secretly doesn’t sit well with Lily’s husband Michael, who tolerates it if only for Lily’s sake. While Alex believes Katherine’s friends are bizarre and pretentious, Katherine believes Alex’s best male friend Dave, who he’s known since childhood, is crude and doesn’t know how to respect personal boundaries. Katherine, who doesn’t need to work in being supported by her wealthy father, still aspires to working as a designer, while Alex, a dog trainer, probably would not be able to support Katherine to the style that her father’s money has made her accustomed. What makes that last issue worse is that Katherine is allergic to dogs, meaning that she never goes to his place unable to be around his faithful dog, Tucker. Mr. Stern is the one person who does not understand an Alex/Katherine relationship. Lily, Michael and Dave all think Katherine is great, Lily who believes he should hold onto her in she being heads and tails above any other girlfriend he’s had. It is in that issue that Alex has to decide how far he will go to please Katherine to hold onto her as he plans to ask her to marry him.

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Alex & The List Movie Reviews

This Film Should Not Be On One’s Bucket List

The premise of this film is that Alex, the man who works wonders with dogs, is deeply in love with the appropriately named Katherine Stern, who is allergic to dogs. But the main problem is that there never appears to be any chemistry between the two characters. None. Zero. Zilch. Nada. The Empty Set.

Early in the film, Katherine presents to Alex a typewritten list of things that she wants him to change about himself, in order to further their relationship. A number of the points are extremely trivial, such as “drive a German car” or “get your teeth whitened.” Alex first takes a stand and says that he will not comply with her requests. But he then changes his mind when he senses that another man is pursuing Katherine. Out of jealously, he decides to complete the various steps of the list.

The most interesting of Katherine’s demands is that Alex convert to Judaism. There was some good advice given to Alex by the wise rabbi who becomes his mentor. The main concept was that of the soul mate, or “bashert.” The rabbi also stresses that the list should only be a starting point in a relationship.

Alex goes through the conversion process, including mikveh (immersion) and circumcision. He also gets his teeth whitened, learns about sports, samples liqueurs, and examines a Porsche. But the most important words of the rabbi, “You must live an authentic life” seem to be lost on both Alex and Katherine.

This film was muddied in its goals and styles. On the surface, it appeared to be a comedy. But the preposterous idea of the list was taken so seriously by the characters that it turned into a drama. Throughout the film, the woman who appeared to be the true soul mate of Alex was Katherine’s best friend Lily, the person who gave her the idea for “the list” in the first place!

anti-rom-com

Alex (Patrick Fugit) is an affable simple dog walker and dog whisperer. With no family to speak of, former girlfriend Lily (Karen Gillan) is his best friend although her husband Michael and others see him as childlike. His girlfriend Katherine Stern (Jennifer Morrison) loves him but is conflicted. She gives him a list of improvements for their future relationship. Dave (Eddie Kaye Thomas) is his immature friend. Despite everybody’s suggestion, he still refuses to do the list until her disapproving father brings in hot optometrist Dr. Antonio Rosenblatt for her brother’s Gary’s upcoming wedding.

The list is aggressive but the reaction is psycho. She may be high maintenance but he’s a serial killer. I love Fugit but he’s best at the darker roles. I also love Morrison but she’s high intensity. This movie is trying to be a screwball rom-com and mostly fails in spectacular fashion. There are three women in his life and Katherine is the least likeable. She has the worst chemistry with him. The two actors are not good comedic material. Gillan has the comedic chops but her romantic possibility is written off right from the start. The odd thing is that Alex and Katherine are not a completely bad couple at the beginning. It’s a slow roll to get to that point. That build to hate her is a build to hating this movie. It’s a frustrating grind to watch this romance. By the end of the relationship, I almost reveled in its audacity to make an anti-romance. Then it even screws that up by injecting another girl to force a romantic ending. The only comedic moment that sorta worked is the teeth whitening. That list of white colors is so stupid that I had to chuckle. In the broadest strokes, this is 500 Days. It’s just done in the most infuriating way.

Lacklustre

The draw for me, to this movie, was Karen Gillian and Jennifer Morrison and the promise of some light romance. Both actresses gave good performances (Jennifer Morrison is a great romantic foil and Karen Gillian was characteristically goofy). What let me down was the writing. The premise was simple, although its implications were entirely predictable, but the path to it was long and arduous. There needed to be more meat inbetween: more depth in the character arcs, more humour, more meaning in the journey. It ended up being boring and lacklustre. I give this film a 4 (poor) out of 10. {Romance}