To think of all the wonderful reviews I've read of this film! The camera work, the real time walk, the fresh acting, the plot twist and noone would disclose anything, and oh the witty dialogue!
The first thing I didn't like right away was that the opening dialogue between the unseen couple in the car discloses the whole plot twist. It's totally clear that they are about to be married to each other and that there's a bet on and she even says, 'Time it' so there was no surprise in the rest of the film for me and the friends I watched it with and we spent the rest of the film being sorry for the poor boys taken in by the girl.
The second disappointing thing was the witty dialogue. I don't think I ever heard such meaningless pseudo-intellectual blabber in all my life. As for the acting... Well, we've seen way better than that. The girl's fiance is pretty good and some of the people in the smaller street episodes are very very good. But the lead three are plain terrible. Though, I have to say they didn't have much chance to do anything worthy considering the script.
The third thing that I thought very amateurish and ridiculous was the so called real time walk along St. Petersburg streets. And what's more, THE St. Petersburg street, Nevsky Prospekt. Now then, one can't really portray St. Petersburg as an 'unnamed Russian city', can one? Especially by showing its main sights and most famous spots like they do in this film. The couple passed the public library at least four times, the Anichkov Palace at least three, the Hermitage (of all places) twice and bought train tickets to Moscow somewhere at a reconstruction site behind the House of Books instead of in a railway ticket centre across the street where they are really sold. That's just bad work, I say, not taking enough time to think that the viewer might actually recognize the place. Probably admitting that the film would never ever be shown in St. Petersburg itself. And it's really really funny to watch, of course.
And, I didn't like the storyline at all. But that's a minor thing.
There was one thing I did like, though, the episodes with people in historical costumes and the guards on the St. Isaac's observation deck. They were at least funny.
The first thing I didn't like right away was that the opening dialogue between the unseen couple in the car discloses the whole plot twist. It's totally clear that they are about to be married to each other and that there's a bet on and she even says, 'Time it' so there was no surprise in the rest of the film for me and the friends I watched it with and we spent the rest of the film being sorry for the poor boys taken in by the girl.
The second disappointing thing was the witty dialogue. I don't think I ever heard such meaningless pseudo-intellectual blabber in all my life. As for the acting... Well, we've seen way better than that. The girl's fiance is pretty good and some of the people in the smaller street episodes are very very good. But the lead three are plain terrible. Though, I have to say they didn't have much chance to do anything worthy considering the script.
The third thing that I thought very amateurish and ridiculous was the so called real time walk along St. Petersburg streets. And what's more, THE St. Petersburg street, Nevsky Prospekt. Now then, one can't really portray St. Petersburg as an 'unnamed Russian city', can one? Especially by showing its main sights and most famous spots like they do in this film. The couple passed the public library at least four times, the Anichkov Palace at least three, the Hermitage (of all places) twice and bought train tickets to Moscow somewhere at a reconstruction site behind the House of Books instead of in a railway ticket centre across the street where they are really sold. That's just bad work, I say, not taking enough time to think that the viewer might actually recognize the place. Probably admitting that the film would never ever be shown in St. Petersburg itself. And it's really really funny to watch, of course.
And, I didn't like the storyline at all. But that's a minor thing.
There was one thing I did like, though, the episodes with people in historical costumes and the guards on the St. Isaac's observation deck. They were at least funny.