Happythankyoumoreplease. It’s a film you may not have heard of, but a film you should still see nonetheless. Despite the strange and annoying title (which is explained in the film), it’s actually quite a good movie. It has some quirky characters, genuine situations and it’s truly charming. The film reminds me a lot of 500 Days of Summer, another movie I enjoyed. Written by, directed by and starring How I Met Your Mother’s Josh Radnor, Happythankyoumoreplease is a refreshing, uplifting and immensely enjoyable film that features some great performances.
Boasting a relatable and accessible script, Happythankyoumoreplease tells the story of Sam (Josh Radnor), a writer in New York who is having trouble trying to sell his first manuscript. One day while riding the subway, he sees a young boy get separated from his mother. Being the good person he is, Sam goes to help the kid. When he offers to take him to the police station to find his mom, the boy explains that he is in foster care and he doesn’t want to go back. Feeling bad, Sam decides to take the kid home and care for him, until he can find another place for the boy to go. Eventually the two grow close and neither want to leave each other’s side.
Then there’s Annie (Malin Akerman), Sam’s best friend, who is struggling with a rare form of cancer. She carries a heavy amount of emotional baggage and she also has to deal with a co-worker (Arrested Development’s Tony Hale) who is madly in love with her. The next piece of the puzzle comes in the form of the gorgeous Kate Mara who plays Mississippi, a struggling singer who meets Sam and agrees to partake in his experiment which involves having a ‘three night stand’. Lastly, we have Mary Catherine (Zoe Kazan) and her boyfriend Charlie (Pablo Schreiber), they’re having their own problems that arise from Mary Catherine’s potential pregnancy and Charlie getting a job offer in LA.
All the actors here do very good jobs with their roles but a couple do stand out. Firstly, Radnor himself is quite good. He has clearly learnt a lot from How I Met Your Mother and his character here is very similar to his Ted Mosby character from the show, which isn’t a bad thing. Comic timing is his strong suit, and his facial expressions mixed with his one liners keep things moving at a great pace. I should also mention Tony Hale, as he has a brilliant turn as Annie’s co-worker and seeing as we haven’t seen him do much since Arrested Development, his presence here is much appreciated. He gives a superb performance and shows some nice range. Kate Mara, beautiful as ever, is also especially charming in her role and crafts some great chemistry with Radnor.
Filled with all the indie music you could ask for, and the inevitable ending montage, Radnor directs the film effectively yet his rookie mistakes still do shine through. Things wrap up a bit too nice and tidily and predictability rears its ugly head here and there. The expected conventional moments also do show up along the way as well, making the film feel derivative of the numerous other New York based romantic comedies that we’ve seen. Aside from those rookie mistakes, Radnor handles himself pretty well here, keeping the film moving at a steady pace and holding our attention the whole way. He gets some great performances from his actors and ultimately crafts a pretty appealing film. Radnor definitely shows promise as a director.
While it may not be the next Garden State, Happythankyoumoreplease is a refreshing and witty romantic comedy that despite not doing anything terribly new or inspired, hits all the right notes and comes together to make a very worthy directorial debut for Mr. Radnor.
