ONE NIGHT ONLY: 2 ½ STARS. “a mash-up of ‘When Harry Met Sally’ and ‘The Purge'”
SYNOPSIS: In “One Night Only,” a new romantic comedy starring Monica Barbaro and Callum Turner, now playing in theatres, two strangers attempt to make a connection on the one night of the year when pre-marital sex is legal. “How is anyone supposed to find something real on a night like tonight?”
CAST: Monica Barbaro, Callum Turner, Maya Hawke, Julia Fox, Molly Ringwald, LeVar Burton. Directed by Will Gluck.
REVIEW: Like a mash-up of “When Harry Met Sally” and “The Purge” (only with sex instead of murder), “One Night Only” takes a provocative premise and applies strict rom com rules to the story of two singletons looking for something more than a one-night stand.
“One Night Only” takes place in an alternate New York City where premarital sex is illegal every day of the year except one. “We wanted to go back to a time when sex was reserved for the sanctity of marriage,” says a government official. “Since our resolution passed, teen pregnancy is near zero, STIs are at record lows, and now it’s a badge of honor to be an incel.”
On that day two love-starved strangers, a pizza shop owner Owen (Callum Turner) and a hopelessly romantic jingle singer Allie (Monica Barbaro) have several meet cutes—“Your ears look like car doors,” she says. “Your legs don’t make any sense,” he says.—and begin a flirty and often funny cat and mouse game that will lead them across the city in pursuit of something more than a quick roll in the hay.
“One Night Only” is the rare rom com that uses fascism as a catalyst for the amorous action. But the ban on premarital relations, while central to the story, isn’t the entire story.
The only truly provocative thing in this sex comedy (rated 14A in Canada, R in the U.S.) is the dystopian premise. Strip away the story’s underdeveloped Orwellian satire and you’re left with a charming, mostly chaste search for connection.
Central to the film’s likability are Monica Barbaro and Callum Turner.
Barbaro, an Oscar nominee for her work as Joan Baez in the Bob Dylan-biopic “A Complete Unknown,” channels Meg Ryan with a combination of charm and chutzpah. Equally at home with the dramatic and comedic demands of the role, she’s an effervescent presence whether she’s emoting or doing pratfalls.
Equal parts aw-shucks, sincerity and swagger, Turner clicks with Barbaro as their “After Hours”-style adventures (without the edge of the Martin Scorsese NYC classic) keep them in one another’s orbit.
On one hand “One Night Only” feels like a missed opportunity to examine traditional values in the face of governmental overreach.
On the other, it’s a straight-ahead rom com with nothing on its mind except the happiness of its main characters. It’s no secret how this movie will end. If it comes as a shock, you’ve never seen a rom com, because these movies aren’t about the destination, they’re about the journey, and “One Night Only” is a fun trip despite its reluctance to fully engage with its political premise.
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