Friends with Possibilities in Romantic Comedies

In the highly imperfect world of contemporary romantic comedies, What If is as close to perfect as anything we've got, not least for the way it captures the abject hopefulness of young people who'd like to be in love but don't know how to go about it. Who does know how to go about it? Perhaps that explains the near-universal appeal of romantic comedies, at least when they're done well. And while What If does have its blemishes -- there are times when it's just too cute for its own good -- it's so enjoyable from moment to moment that it's easy to forgive. There's no anguish so delectable as that of meeting the right person at the wrong time, and What If gets it.

Daniel Radcliffe's Wallace is a would-be doctor who left medical school after a messy breakup sent him 'round the bend. An expat Englishman, he's been squirreling himself away in his sister's attic, spending too much of his time sitting on the roof and staring out at the Toronto skyline. One night, at a party hosted by a friend (the ubiquitous Adam Driver), he and an attractive young woman meet cute over a set of refrigerator poetry magnets. Zoe Kazan's Chantry is an animator -- whimsy alert! -- and the two strike up one of those all-too-believable flirtations that skitters around madly like a Tickle Bee toy. She seems to like him, but she won't allow him to make a move. Later, he spots her getting her coat, and he darts over to grab his. "I was just leaving without saying good-bye, like a total dick," he says a little too eagerly, even though it's obvious she was going to be the first to split.

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