Movie review by Greg Carlson
Third-year psychology student Emily (Angourie Rice), an American abroad at the fictional Manchester City University, alights on what she thinks will be the perfect case study to complete her psychology thesis project: musician/sound engineer Owen (Spike Fearn), chasing after another Emily he met briefly at the student union club where he works, is desperate to reconnect after one fleeting interaction. Emily’s specific topic focuses on attachment theory and the “madness” of romantic love, but viewers should be able to immediately guess that she – and not the mystery Emily – will end up with Owen. Since the heyday of Lubitsch, Cukor, Capra, Hawks and others, it’s the journey and not the inevitable destination that matters when it comes to our attractive protagonists.
Alicia MacDonald, making a workmanlike feature directorial debut, connects all the dots provided by Rachel Hirons’ screenplay. In an interview with Cole Groth, MacDonald openly acknowledges the checklist of formulaic conventions practically hardwired into the genre, citing the “meet-cute, the running sequence, the declaration of love at the end, and friends-to-lovers” trajectory along with the obligatory “dark night of the soul” montage. I could not agree, despite MacDonald’s claims to the contrary, that any of these tropes are handled with stark originality. And that’s just fine. The target audience will show up to see something of their own lives in the awkward courtship of Emily and Owen.
Even if you believe in love at first sight like the smitten Owen, the charms of “Finding Emily” are embedded in the broader philosophical breakdowns postulated by the likes of Plato and C. S. Lewis; Emily and Owen can only come to love one another after spending quality time together and forging a friendship (eventually) based on mutual respect. I say eventually because the story must provide some obligatory obstacles and stumbling blocks to affirm Shakespeare’s dramatic wisdom that the “course of true love never did run smooth.” In this case, Emily has rather ill-advisedly withheld from Owen the whole truth of his role in her research study. Talk about a whopper of a use-of-human-subjects I.R.B ethics violation!
We would not have a movie if Emily told the truth to Owen right from the start. But we’re also inclined to forgive our heroine because we know she is at heart a good person. The always engaging presence of the Australian Rice (who has long mastered a flawless American accent) makes a good match with Fearn’s slightly scruffy, footie-jersey-and-chain-wearing, fish-and-chips, working-class lad. The storied city may not factor with the same degree of importance as it enjoyed in “24 Hour Party People,” but the handsome and colorful location photography by Rachel Clark announces the metro as a vibrant and vital character.
“Finding Emily” won’t threaten “When Harry Met Sally” as the modern-era gold standard for the friends-to-lovers rom-com, but the adorable Rice and Fearn play the angles. Particularly enjoyable is the superb soundtrack, featuring nods to Manchester’s storied musical pedigree alongside some diegetic needle-drops that urge Emily and Owen to make their own and/or shake to all kinds of fun selections supervised by Iain Cooke, including New Order, the Durutti Column, Black Grape, Scissor Sisters, Tom Tom Club, W. H. Lung, and a James Blake cover of Joy Division.