At Midnight review: Mild, run-of-the-mill rom-com

The romantic comedy flick At Midnight follows the love story between an actress and an aspiring hotelier.

Story

Sophie is an actress, who strives to be known as more than just ‘the girlfriend’ to her co-actor and boyfriend, Adam Clark. Even in interviews for the launch of their superhero flick, Sophie is unable to grasp the limelight that she deserves. Though, everything goes in for a toss when she finds Adam cheating on her.

Sophie’s agent, Margot, who happens to be Adam’s agent as well, tries to keep the situation under control for the sake of the upcoming movie’s success. With a lot of support and consolation from her manager Chris, and best friend, Rachel – Sophie agrees to finish filming the rest of the movie in Mexico. It is in Mexico that she comes across an aspiring hotelier, Alejandro.

Alejandro, a flirt by nature, has the determination to open his own venture in the hotel industry; but, he is hesitant to take a risk. He is employed by the hotel where Sophie and her film crew are expected to check-in. Alejandro dislikes movie stars, though much to his utter dismay he is given the job of caring for and assisting the crew for six weeks.

Now in Mexico, Sophie is in the process of recovering from the breakup. Sophie takes a shower after getting a pep talk from Rachel, who is also on this trip. Prior to Sophie entering her designated suite, Alejandro glanced over the suite, and while he was doing so, he notices that there were no towels in the bathroom. Alejandro discovers Sophie naked behind the bathroom door when he enters the suite to shelve the towels. After the incident, neither of them likes the other.

Sophie and Alejandro grow close when Alejandro is compelled to make a sandwich for the actress, who is hungry past midnight. After a few midnight dates, things begin to get romantic, and betwixt this, Sophie records an audition for a movie role, which could be a big break for her.

In the midst of all of this, the couple sneaks away for a day trip without a cellular tower. Concurrent to this, Rachel, Chris, and nearly everyone else tries to find Sophie because she has a big meeting for her potential stand-alone film. Due to the chaos created, Sophie lashes out at Alejandro, who begins to have second thoughts about his unofficial relationship with Sophie.

Sophie apologizes to Alejandro and asks to spend the weekend with him. Upon learning that he has to go to Mexico City to celebrate his sister’s birthday with the entire family, Sophie expresses her desire to tag along. After agreeing to the prospect, Alejandro takes Sophie on a tour of the city and later introduces her to his family at his sister’s birthday lunch.

Sophie learns at lunch that she has not been cast in the film for which she auditioned. To make matters worse, she overhears Alejandro referring to her as “just a tourist” to his father. Alejandro and Sophie have a passive dispute at the dinner table and decide to part ways.

Time passes by and Alejandro realizes that he is in love with Sophie. With one last attempt, Alejandro finds Sophie at her movie set. After a heartfelt confession, Alejandro is let down by Sophie, who does not agree to further pursue what they had.

A young admirer compliments Sophie and reveals her ambition to become just like Sophie at a gathering where Sophie is given an offer for a stand-alone movie for her character, Firephina. Having a sudden change of heart, Sophie realizes she must confess her love to Alejandro. Sophie runs to Alejandro, who is packing his luggage to go chase his dreams. With a nonchalant attitude, Sophie expresses her wish to reconcile. Alejandro readily welcomes her back, and the two reunite.

Performances

The casting of At Midnight has been accurate to its requirements. Monica Barbaro, who plays the character Sophie, does a brilliant job. Her bubbly yet feisty character is a delight on screen. Diego Boneta plays the role of Alejandro and fits the role perfectly as the protagonist. The chemistry between Barbaro and Boneta makes the storyline twice as good.

Casey Thomas Brown who plays the role of Chris, Sophie’s manager, requires a special mention for his seamless comic timing. Other actors in the film, such as Catherine Cohen (plays the character Rachel) and Anders Holm (plays the role of Adam) have done a job well as well.

Positives

The direction and cinematography are pretty decent. The director of the movie, Jonah Feingold, has brought magic to the screen through his work with the camera. The scenic sequences are the perfect eye candies in the movie.

The comic relief moments are great additions to the movie. The harmless, silly humor in the script brought out the potential in the actors as well.

Negatives

The cinematography of At Midnight is decent but the storyline is not. From the very start of the movie, the climax/end was predicted. It is almost a xerox copy of every other rom-com movie that is released during Valentine’s week.

There are a few plot holes that leave the audience scratching their heads. For an instance, there is a brief interaction between Chris and Tachi (Alejandro’s colleague and friend). The interaction leaves one guessing whether or not something is brewing between the two.

After that scene, there is no screen time shared by the two characters. At Midnight also suffers from a lack of subplots that could add to the script.

Verdict

At Midnight is an unsurprising rom-com, which is mediocre at best. Although entertaining at points, there’s little in terms of a standout here, providing a run-of-the-mill experience not uncommon in the genre.

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