This Time Next Year succeeds thanks to the pairing of Sophie Cookson and Lucien Laviscount who inject this romantic comedy with the perfect amount of charm, even if it feels like it takes a little while to find its footing.

 

After debuting last summer in the United Kingdom, the adaptation of Sophie Cousens’ best selling novel is finally releasing for Canadian viewers. Like many films in the romantic comedy genre, audiences know what to expect from the story of This Time Next Year, as the tale of two young individuals who happen to share the same birthday fall in love with each other over the course of an entire year in London promises all the laughter and romance that fans want from the genre. With the pairing of Kingsman’s Sophie Cookson and Emily in Paris’s Lucien Laviscount in the lead roles of Minnie and Quinn respectively, it's hard not to enjoy This Time Next Year as they make for one sweet and beautiful romantic pairing, though the film is held back at times by its long runtime and too many narrative ideas that don’t come together as cleanly as they could have.

 

Without Cookson and Laviscount, This Time Next Year would fail to capture that sweet romantic feeling that makes it an entertaining watch for fans of the romantic comedy genre. But, from the second Cookson’s Minnie and Laviscount’s Quinn meet, you can feel the spark between their characters. There is an instant attraction that is brought to life by the playful banter as Minnie and Quinn discover their unique connection to each other and Cookson and Laviscount keep this energy for the entirety of the first act, while throwing in hints at their characters’ true feelings for each other. As the plot thickens, Cookson and Laviscount dial up the romance between their characters with more passionate moments that teases their potential happy ending, while finding vulnerability as they work through their characters’ personal struggles that act as a barrier to Minnie and Quinn’s love. Both of them give strong performances that make the story come to life, supported by solid supporting turns from Golda Rosheuvel, John Hannah, Monica Dolan and Mandip Gill, ensuring that the ‘will they, won’t they’  of Minnie and Quinn’s relationship plays emotional tug-of-war on the viewers as Cookson and Laviscount light up the screen with their sublime romantic chemistry.

 

What prevents This Time Next Year from being a great romantic comedy is the film’s screenplay. The screenplay itself has all of the requisite elements of a romantic comedy such as terrible ex-lovers, memorable friends who generate moments of great comedic relief, and even a fun new aspect with the special bond between Minnie and Quinn’s mothers, ensuring that their is a whimsical romantic comedy plot for viewers to enjoy. Never for a second promising anything that audiences don’t want from the romantic comedy genre, there are some genuinely hilarious occurrences and swoon worthy moments as Minnie and Quinn develop their connection over the course of the film. And while the film is no doubt entertaining, Cousens’ writing does not pull all the different narrative threads together strongly enough to make This Time Next Year the remarkable romantic comedy it could have been. 

 

Despite her background as a television producer and her novel being well received, Cousens’ first theatrical screenplay does not fully translate her story to the film medium. Even with lots of fun moments in the first act, you can feel that it takes a while for the film to find its pacing and truly get moving, and even once it does, with an almost two hour runtime, you do begin to notice it’s length as the story enters its homestretch in the final act. There is no question that Cousens is a good writer, as the love story of Minnie and Quinn is funny, romantic and deeply enjoyable, with the ‘will they, won’t they’ narrative easily being enough to invest fans of the genre in this tale, while adding in flourishes with subplot elements in an attempt to make the story more meaningful than the basic romantic comedy film. However, It is clear that Cousens is playing with too many ideas at once, which unfortunately bogs the film down. It's comparable to J.K. Rowling writing the screenplays for the first two Fantastic Beasts films herself, with both authors having a clear vision of the story they want to tell with a wide variety of plot elements, but not having the precision to condense it all into a well paced film. Had the screenplay been tighter and the runtime approximately fifteen to twenty minutes shorter, this would have allowed This Time Next Year to graduate to the level of a great romantic comedy, rather than just being an okay romantic comedy.

It’s hard to pass up a new romantic comedy, especially when it is directed by the editor of some of the genre’s greatest films like Love Actually and Notting Hill, and never for a second does This Time Next Year not deliver the enjoyable and romantic escapism that has become synonymous with the genre. Even with Sophie Cousens not being able to distill the story of her best selling novel succinctly and translating it to a visual medium, the impressive romantic chemistry between Sophie Cookson and Lucien Laviscount in the lead roles more than makes up for this and ensures that romantic comedy fans are going to find exactly what they are looking for in This Time Next Year.