10 Year Plan

10 Year Plan (2014)

Take a painfully, hopeless romantic and pair him with a man whore and you wouldn’t expect to see love.  But when you start out as best friends, love can come out of almost nowhere.

Synopsis: The 10 Year Plan is a classic romantic comedy that tells the story of Myles and Brody – two friends who make a pact to be together if neither finds love in ten years’ time. Two months shy of their deadline, both friends try to avoid ending up as each other’s last resort.

On one hand 10 Year Plan has a predictable, cliche story line, the characters’ behavior is mildly annoying, and it just doesn’t quite take you where you might hope it would.  Two best friends who fall in love could be the best ending to a movie, but somewhere it falls short.  On the other hand, watching two people who are learning about love and relationships can be an interesting and amusing experience.

Our first impression of Myles is someone who tries too hard and is oblivious to the realities of a relationship.  We’ve heard the stereotype of “U-haul lesbians,” but Myles takes it to the extreme with his “I’ve found the one” attitude on the first date.  What’s even worse is that Myles and Brody’s conversation indicates this has happened repeatedly.  On the other side of the moon is Brody who is a bit of a man whore who has no want for commitment or anything beyond a one night stand.   At least he’s honest about it.

The two of them together is interesting.  You know from the beginning of the movie what is going to happen.  Watch the scene where Brody does a strip-tease for Myles and you can see it right there.  The drama comes from Myles’ journey from completely ignorant about relationships to somehow realizing what is happening with him and Brody.

[spoilers may be ahead]

He goes through several blind dates that don’t work out because Myles appears to be a stalker.  Brody gets him onto Grindr where Myles is introduced to the hook-up (although in Myles’ head it’s the beginning of a beautiful relationship).  Somewhere along the way when it turns out Brody has screwed the same guy, something clicks for Myles and he realizes that he needs to “break the cycle.”

It’s only after a dream that Brody realizes he is in love with Myles – his subconscious even knows it!  And it’s at this point he begins to pursue the relationship.  What ensues is what many movies have done complete with car chase.  At least they make fun of it as it’s happening.

The ending is fun to watch even though you could have sketched out the storyboard yourself.  And when the end of a movie has good things happen, it’s hard to find fault.  But I couldn’t help but feel like something was missing…  Maybe more development with what was going on in Myles’ head.  He was so messed up to start with – it would be interesting to have more on what really clicked in his mind that caused him to take drastic measures.

JC Calciano says, “Your lover is your best friend, but why isn’t your best friend your lover? That’s what The 10 Year Plan is about.”  I would agree that best friends finding love is a theme here.  I would also add that figuring out what a relationship is and what one wants out of a partner and relationship is another.  Brody says at one point that Myles isn’t going to find one guy who is just perfect in every way.  It’s ironic because we all know that Brody is the guy for Myles, but at the same time it’s still true.  Brody may not be everything or perfect, but that’s not really what finding a partner is all about.

The production values were generally good.  The music was distracting at some points – one example is when Myles is sitting at his desk at the office and some music is playing that just struck me as odd.  The acting is adequate, although I would have wanted to see more of why the two were so connected in the first place.  It’s a very watchable film, and if you like JC Calciano’s other films you just might like this one as well.  It’s been a crowd-pleaser at many film festivals!  At the very least, it’s a feel good movie with some laugh out loud  lines and an ending that goes on the happily ever after list.

Takeaways:  Don’t be oblivious.  Sometimes love is right under your nose.  Also, know what you want in a relationship before you try to get into one.  I know, it’s really a trial and error thing.  But too many errors, and you might step back and figure out what it is you really want.  Oh, and don’t stalk your dates on Facebook.  It’s creepy.

Memorable Quotes: “You really are an easy bake oven away from being a 12 year old girl, aren’t you?”