Emma Roberts and Thomas Mann make About Fate tempting
The "address-swap" rom-com leans heavily on the performances, and chemistry, of its leads
Since Hallmark Christmas movies have begun to develop a year-round fanbase, releasing a New Year’s Eve movie in September doesn’t seem quite so odd. Especially for audience members currently enduring a heat wave, frozen suburbs dusted in slow-falling snow feel like as much of a fantasy realm as Wakanda or Asgard. However, their hearts may sink when a tinny public-domain sounding song kicks things off over a banal montage in which Thomas Mann and Emma Roberts wake up and prepare for their day.
Surprisingly, though, About Fate comes with an unusual pedigree: it’s a remake of award-winning Russian filmmaker Eldar Ryazanov’s 1978 TV movie The Irony Of Fate, Or Enjoy Your Bath! In translating the original film’s centrally planned communist cities to two similar areas of tract housing, its social satire loses a bit in translation. But in a nod to the script’s origins, a Russian bath house, cab driver, and copious amounts of vodka play key roles in director Marius Vaysberg’s remake.
In the film, both Margot (Roberts) and Griffin (Mann) are counting down to December 30, when they expect to get engaged to the love of their life—or more accurately, of the last three months—at their local Bennigan’s. Although Griffin’s social-influencer girlfriend Clementine (Madelaine Petsch) agrees, she insists he re-propose on New Year’s Eve at a party where she can broadcast to her Instagram followers. But after getting wasted at the aforementioned bath house, Griffin’s cab accidentally drops him off at Margot’s address—which is the same as his, just in the wrong neighborhood.
Awakening to discover the bed he slept in is not his own, Griffin agrees to attend the wedding of Margot’s sister Carrie (Britt Robertson) the next day, posing as her flaky ex boyfriend Kip (Lewis Tan), who failed to pop the question she was waiting for. Griffin and Margot’s makeshift agreement stretches credibility—especially after the 911 operator dismisses Margot’s complaint of a strange naked man in her house. But Griffin is a super-nice guy who can’t tell people no, and Margot is extremely—if in this vulnerable state understandably—needy. Getting to the wedding and to Clementine’s party on New Year’s Eve in the middle of a blizzard proves to be a challenge. Bringing Up Baby-style screwball comedy hijinks ensue, in a slight departure from typical holiday movie fare.
Despite the off-putting blandness of its poster, soundtrack, and set-up, About Fate proves surprisingly charming. Old pros (especially for their relatively young ages) Mann and Roberts manage to sell some significant character flaws. He’s awfully passive for a lawyer, and she’s super pushy for someone who supposedly doesn’t know what she wants. As in the best relationships, however, their strengths together balance their weaknesses as individuals. Her tenacity kickstarts his resourcefulness, and his validation provides a mirror for the desperation that has pushed her family away.
As Margot and Griffin’s evil exes, so to speak, Tan and Petsch give their potential caricatures additional layers of depth, even as they deliver obvious “laugh” lines about chakras and influencing. In particular, their performances highlight the fundamental weaknesses, and not one-dimensional malevolence, that produce Kip and Clementine’s flaws, something that’s probably true of most bad people. In fact, neither earns a dramatic comeuppance, precisely because the audience comes to to pity the superficial lives they already lead.
About Fate would benefit from a bit of tightening, especially when its emotional climax lasts several scenes too many. While extended runtimes are part of the Russian storytelling tradition—The Irony Of Fate stretched to 184 minutes across two installments—Russian filmmaker Vaysberg keeps his version comparatively succinct at 100 minutes, so a superfluous five minutes or so are forgivable.
Will it become a new New Year’s classic? Its competition remains nominal, so it’s possible. But as high concepts go, “address swap comedies” aren’t necessarily as compelling a hook to build a movie around. Fortunately, Mann and Roberts’ considerable appeal, especially as a couple, creates a solid enough foundation to render that set-up an irrelevant distraction. About Fate may argue that the success of a relationship is the result of destiny, but Roberts and Mann prove that the real key is having two experienced leads who make their work look effortless.