3/5 stars

No good film can be made without reason. Yes, there are films we might enjoy, but come out the other end having learned nothing. Take This Waltz is such a film. As much as I enjoyed Michelle Williams’ quaint and quirky Margot, and her peculiar matching with Seth Rogen’s Lou I couldn’t help but reel at the banality of her instant attraction to the tortured painter, not artist, painter, Daniel (Luke Kirby). Ok, so maybe our hearts would flutter more at the prospect of chiselled Kirby taking us to bed than the more rotund Rogen, but did Take This Waltz have to reduce its female lead, no matter how brilliantly Williams may have portrayed her, to a quivering mess at the sight of a hunk. Can’t she just be happy with the kind and gentle Lou, and accept that a marriage is bound to lose some of the passion, but at least you can still go to the loo in front of your other half?

With an uninventive cinematographer, and a hefty amount of cringe worthy dialogue, Take This Waltz follows in a long line of try-hard films. But it is enjoyable. Just look past the predictable shots and romanticized view of falling in love (for the second time), and listen to the gentle soundtrack that does help you feel a little more sympathetic towards Margot, if only a little.

It is difficult to watch a beautiful young woman persistently burst into tears, merely because she is loved by two men. With Valentine’s soon approaching, this is probably not a film to watch in the coming weeks, though it is worth a shot some time. If only so you can explain its point to me, why are we supposed to feel something for the girl who has too much?

Lily Dessau