One Day
for sexual content, partial nudity, language, some violence and substance abuse.
Reviewed by: Joseph Yates
CONTRIBUTOR
| Moral Rating: | Offensive |
| Moviemaking Quality: |
|
| Primary Audience: | Adults |
| Genre: | Romance Comedy |
| Length: | 1 hr. 48 min. |
| Year of Release: | 2011 |
| USA Release: |
August 19, 2011 (wide—1,600+ theaters) DVD: November 29, 2011 |
friendship
TRUE LOVE—What is true love and how do you know when you have found it? Answer
accidental death
loss of loved one
male female relationship
father son relationship
father daughter relationship
dreams of making the world a better place
| Featuring |
Anne Hathaway … Emma Morley Jim Sturgess … Dexter Mayhew Patricia Clarkson … Alison Mayhew See all » |
| Director | Lone Scherfig—“An Education,” “Italian for Beginners” |
| Producer |
Color Force Film Four Random House Films See all » |
| Distributor |
 Focus Features, a subsidiary of Universal Pictures, a division of NBCUniversal/Comcast |
“Twenty years. Two people…”
“One Day,” a story of an on-again off-again romance, comes to us with a tale of a guy and a girl who become best friends and romantic companions. The film is set in the United Kingdom starting in the 1980s and running all the way through 2011. The film’s title comes into play when we realize that every day shown on screen is a July 15th.
Dexter (played by Jim Sturgess) and Emma (Anne Hathaway) meet the night of their highschool graduation. Inebriated, they sleep together that night. Thus, they are forever friends throughout their life…
Foul language is not very often heard, with 1 f-word, several “b-st-rds,” several uses of the British vulgarity “bloody,” and a couple other mild profanities. Sexual content, although not graphic, runs throughout the movie. We know several characters have had sex, we hear mention of one character attending orgies, hear mention of group sex, and see a character about to have an affair.
“One Day” takes two very different people, both extremely ambitious, and shows the progression of their lives. They remain best friends through life, even though each has their own boyfriend/girlfriend. For his part, Dexter becomes very narcissistic, serving only his own pleasures. He is constantly drunk, for a great while, even showing up to visit his ailing mother while drunk. He takes on a very playboy-esque attitude. The love of Emma, however, constantly draws him back to being clean, sober and kind. Eventually, this changes him.
As Christians and humans, in general, we are drawn to stories of redemption because of the greatest redemption narrative: that of Jesus Christ on the cross. The Apostle Paul said that “In him we have redemption through his blood” (Ephesians 1:7). Despite this redemption narrative, “One Day” barely misses the mark of goodness. Almost. Almost only counts in horseshoes and handgrendades, right?
Violence: Moderate / Profanity: Moderate / Sex/Nudity: Moderate
See list of Relevant Issues—questions-and-answers.
However, if you are expecting a “feel good” movie with a traditional happy ending and all the loose ends tied up nicely, this movie is not for you. I left feeling depressed, due to a tragedy in the storyline, and repulsed by the nudity and sex scenes. There is also a bit of swearing and vulgar talk, as well as excessive drinking of alcohol. Anne Hathaway is a great actress and did a very good acting performance. However, the morals contained were pretty bad from a Christian perspective.
I found the end rather hard to follow. I wasn’t sure if it was what really happened or what the character wished had happened. I would recommend saving your money for something with a better and cleaner storyline.
Moral rating: Very Offensive / Moviemaking quality: 3
Moral rating: Extremely Offensive / Moviemaking quality: 2
PLEASE share your observations and insights to be posted here.
My Ratings: Moral rating: Average / Moviemaking quality: 4½