1703. Girlfriend’s Day (2017)

Starring: Bob Odenkirk, Amber Tamblyn, Stacy Keach

Director: Michael Paul Stephenson

Running Time: 70 mins

Girlfriend’s Day is an American film about a former greetings card writer who becomes embroiled in a major conspiracy surrounding the creation of a new public holiday: ‘Girlfriend’s Day’.

A film about greetings card writers? Really? The problem with Girlfriend’s Day is that, whilst it has a premise that could make for a farcical and entertaining comedy (and occasionally does), the majority of the film gets far too bogged down in an unconvincing and uninteresting story. With directing and performances that don’t do all too much to add to the life of the film, it’s a much less enjoyable watch than you’d hope.

Let’s start on the bright side, however, by saying that this isn’t an atrocious film. Some parts are very poor, but I have to say that I did chuckle a couple of times throughout, and the film’s premise had me going for the whole of its first act.

The great thing about the opening act of Girlfriend’s Day is that it’s got the dark nature of any indie comedy-drama, but it still doesn’t take itself too seriously, playing well on how ridiculous an idea it is to make greetings card writers your main characters.

In that first act, the directing is strong, the screenplay is simple and focused, and all of the performances fit in well with a relatively quirky atmosphere that’s very conducive to a few good laughs.

The problem is, everything about the film really starts to fall apart after that. Whilst succeeding in a moderately entertaining story of a greetings card writer who gets fired and descends into a dramatic depression, the film’s second and third acts go all out in a pretty ridiculous and uninteresting crime story.

Although still trying to send up how ridiculously seriously the characters are taking the greetings card industry, the direction that the plot takes, falling further towards something that comes off as a crime-thriller with a sprinkle of comedy thrown in, just isn’t interesting or entertaining enough, and even though it tries to be funny with its overly serious story, it just doesn’t work out.

Overall, I was disappointed by Girlfriend’s Day. Although a surprising success in its opening act, the film loses its footing as it moves away from a small indie comedy towards something much less interesting and much less believable, and that’s why I’m giving it a 6.5.