Above you'll find the trailer to What If, the new romantic comedy starring Daniel Radcliffe and Zoe Kazan. After years of Hollywood mocking and subverting the romantic movie formula, it almost seems daring that this is a film following the tried-and-true storytelling device of the two young lovers who can't be together because of a significant other. The bad news is that the trailer gives away everything. The good news is that you can't "spoil" a good movie, so maybe the whole thing is worth it anyway.
In the film, Radcliffe plays a med school dropout in New York City who can't get his life straight. His buddy is played by Girls star Adam Driver, here providing comic relief just a day after he did the same in the first trailer for Shawn Levy's This Is Where I Leave You. Driver may just be the breakout star of Girls, or he might be an irritable weirdo we all tire from in six months. It's hard to say at this point. Whatever the case, there's an interesting culture melting pot moment in this trailer where Harry Potter is sitting at the breakfast table with Adam from Girls. Or Adam Driver of Star Wars. Take your pick.
Radcliffe's character's attraction to Kazan's is immediate, and why wouldn't it be? This girl is cuter than a baby penguin having a pillow fight with a koala. Kazan, who has been dating Paul Dano for seven years now, is gold and silver and all the colors of the rainbow and all the elements of the periodic table. She's the granddaughter to the great director Elia Kazan, so she comes from a great showbusiness legacy, and is cuter than a toy car that opens up to reveal a batch of pugs dressed in police and fireman uniforms. She is the best, and I hope What If is the big break that she deserves. Oh, Zoe.
Director Michael Dowse has had a colorful career up to this point largely working in the Canadian film industry. His crowning achievement thus far may be his last film, Goon. Written by Jay Baruchel and Seth Rogen's frequent writing partner Evan Goldberg, the hockey comedy starred Seann William Scott as a sweet but dim bouncer who is recruited to a minor league hockey team to be their on-ice enforcer - a job he joyfully carries out to the best of his ability. It's a brutal and foul-mouthed film (seriously, the avalanche of f-words...), but it has a surprising sweetness, particularly in Scott's understated performance and the chemistry he has with co-star Allison Pill.
What If, which was originally called The F Word (it's "friendship"), also stars Mackenzie Davis, Rafe Spall, Megan Park and did we mention Zoe? Oh, Zoe. The film opens August 1st.
