Can You Keep a Secret? – Movie Review

So, I’ve finally managed to sit down for more than 5 minutes and do a movie review! Did I seriously consider writing about “The Devil All the Time”? Yes, but I’d hate to spoil that movie for anyone considering it’s so new and I can always come back to it later (next week possibly so consider this your warning). So, instead I decided to dive into the depth of the cheesy unknown and review 2019 movie “Can You Keep a Secret?” Trust me when I say, I’ve never felt more called out by a main character before in my life and that the level of cheesiness has probably altered my cholesterol levels eternally.

So, of course, we’ll work through all the usual bits first. Directed by Elise Duran, “Can You Keep a Secret” is as an American independent rom-com starring Alexandra Daddario and Tyler Hoechlin as our key characters, Emma and Jack, with Laverne Cox, Sunita Mani and Kimiko Glenn as the supporting cast. Based on a novel of the same name by Sophie Kinsella , the screen play was adapted by Peter Hutchings. Can You Keep a Secret is a funny, romantic, heart warming, feel good film with very human moments and those stereotypical awkward moments that we all experience every now and then.

Initially, we’re introduced to Emma who is in a meeting with a possible client and so incredibly out of her depth. So much so that in the narration she admits she has no idea what’s actually going on and as the meeting goes from bad to worst Emma fails to secure the deal after shaking a can of energy drink and then opening it. So, yeah, poor Emma is off to a less that stellar start in our story but things, naturally, go from bad to worse. After a bit too much champagne and a very turbulent flight, in which Emma is convinced she’s going to die, she spills ALL her secrets to the good looking guy beside her (what possessed her to do that I’ll never know; I generally aim for more silent than a muted phone or exceedingly awkward attempts at conversation around good looking guys like a normal person XD). Naturally, her secrets include the fact that she’s by no means happy with her current boyfriend or his love of jazz, that one of her colleagues is a monumental pain and that she cries listening to Demons by Imagine Dragons (gorgeous song, one of my favourites) and, naturally, she overshares about her sex life too (who has actually ever done this?!).

It seems that Emma’s life is returning to normal until the hot guy on the planes turns out to be the CEO of the company she works for and he now knows all her secrets and she knows exactly one of his, that he was in Chicago. And good guy Jack, CEO and confidante, decides to make life so much fun for Emma by asking her loads of questions he already knows the very honest (drunk) answer to and watching Emma squirm as she lies through her teeth. Also! This is also probably the point where I should inform you that, through the course of this movie, I saw entirely too much of Connor’s (the jazz loving boyfriend at the opening of the movie) bare arse to a point that it got really awkward. Of course, things don’t work out with Connor and Emma agrees to date Jack (Mr. Fabulous-CEO-from-the-plane) but there’s just one problem. Jack won’t open up to Emma and then in a live national interview spills all her secrets to the nation. She’s all he thought of as he describes the women that an upcoming product will be aimed at and, as cute and well intentioned as the shout out may have been, Emma feels betrayed and cuts Jack from her life (for now). Cue the heart break but you know it wouldn’t really be a rom-com if there wasn’t some sort of conflict but can Jack win Emma back and finally open up to her? (Hint: yes and yes. It’s a rom-com; don’t expect it to be that shocking)

The whole film is based around the concept that we, as human beings, hide who we really are from the world in fear that we’ll be rejected for our little oddities but, that in order for a relationship to be a success, we must be willing to share our vulnerabilities and communicate. Not a bad lesson to take away as a whole from what is a spectacularly cheesy but still heart warming story. I will say that I would love to see Alexandra Daddario in a more compelling role in the future that she can sink her teeth into because she shows just how subtle she can be with her acting, making Emma relatable, loveable and helplessly awkward all at the same time. And mad props to Kimiko Glenn for being the eternally, inappropriately dressed, blunt best friend that people need/want in their life. Her comedic timing was fabulous in this.

However, there were some plot holes that the film left unanswered that were probably better answered and handled by the novel on which the movie was based. To me, the notion of being yourself is paramount throughout the movie but it doesn’t really stop the movie from becoming a stereotypical very, extremely unlikely (like one in a couple of million chances of it ever happening) meet-cute strangers-on-a-plane rom-com. Though it is far from a perfect adaptation of the novel, the film does show promise for the book it was based on so maybe this can be one of the books to add to your Booktober reading list if it tickles your fancy. Overall, it’s lots of cute fluff for a girly night in that doesn’t require too much attention to follow.