Movie: The Attraction Test
Starring: Tara Wilson, Andrew Dunbar
Network: UPtv
Synopsis: As an acclaimed college professor prepares to unveil her landmark study that sparks love between strangers, the launch is threatened when she's criticized for not taking "The Dating Test" herself. Though she's vowed never to fall in love again, she agrees to take the test with her biggest critic.
⚠🛑 Disclaimer: This review may contain movie spoilers
Rating (out of 5 stars): ⭐⭐⭐⭐1/2
Review:
So this movie is probably my favourite UPtv movie that has aired in 2022. It has great actors, performances, chemistry and a unique plot. Not to mention it has some humour as well. All key ingredients to score it higher on my list. I enjoyed it so much that I have watched this 3 times already and will definitely watch it again. Let's dive in.
The good:
Plot: I really enjoyed this plot. It was unique and honestly something that interestingly enough, was quite believable. With smart watches today measuring your BPM, steps, heart rate and more, it's not that unbelievable to get on board a watch that measures various chemical reactions to show your level of attraction in prospective partners. With that said, I found it an interesting idea to pair the "scientist" who believes in her theory that love is a series of chemical reactions, with the skeptic who believes that love is based on your feelings and emotions. Take the two and run them through the test to see which one is right. A great plot. I loved the flow of the movie and the naturalness of the dates. Dialogue was witty and the actors were fantastic.
Humour: I like a story that makes you feel the romance but also has a little life or humour to it. This movie gave me both. Not only did I like the chemistry between the leads, but there was some key laugh out loud moments in this movie that I thought were brilliant.
1) When they were bowling and she just bowled poorly..he made a comment to her that she bowled a respective 63. I thought this was so funny. Can I first say thank you to the director for showcasing 5 pin bowling! Being from Canada this is so wonderful to see in a movie. It is something I had no clue, until I married my American husband, isn't very common outside of Canada. Anyway, for those that don't know, a perfect score in 5 pin is 450 and an acceptable beginner score is probably around 100ish. So a 63 is so far below the norm and this little "dig" didn't go unnoticed over here.
2) Ever funnier than this was during the dance sequence. The dance instructor kind of just busts in and says "you can drive a truck through there. Get close" and then she just pushes them together so hard they literally crash into each other. SO funny. And then she says "A little bit less swaying. You look like drunk sailors." Her delivery of these lines was so direct and swift which just elevated the comedy altogether.
Best Friend Carly - I thoroughly enjoyed the best friend Carly played by Ashley Ross. She had a few comedic bits that I thought were brilliant. When she acted like a robot when referring to Brooke's unwillingness to listen to her heart...I laughed so hard. Well done. Would love to see her in another movie as I thought she portrayed Carly well.
Chemistry - I really loved the pairing of Andrew Dunbar and Tara Wilson. They were so at ease with each other and it really showed on screen. Their first meeting showed a little bit of witty banter and the subsequent dates just really allowed them to get to know each other and grow their relationship. I know Ryan said he felt a spark while dancing well that's when I first noticed that they had a little something. Yes, yes I knew they would end up together, but I felt like the dance was the turning point in their relationship. From there it just grew and it showed on screen. The excitement and anticipation could be felt during that dance but even more so when they walked the dogs and got tangled up together. You just knew they wanted to kiss each other but didn't. I thought Andrew Dunbar was particularly good in this role and his confession at the end where he asked her to listen to her heart was particularly moving.
Not so good
University President - I wasn't the biggest fan of the University President. It's not because the actress didn't portray her well because she did, but rather she kept constantly dropping the "dean" hints around. I found it annoying really. Probably more because I really dislike how lead characters in these movies always seem to be driven by a promotion when half the time it really isn't necessary to move the plot forward. This movie would work without that side plot of her possibly becoming Dean.
Girlfriend - Oh my goodness. I'm sorry but why in the world did Ryan even think that he should date his girlfriend. I'm sorry but from the first meeting it was 100% obvious that they were not suited for each other. She was awful. Why was she so hung up on him wanting to open his own business and pursue his passion? I'm sorry but she was awful. Couldn't stand it when she was on screen as she was just not a nice individual and was only interested in herself. Just support the guy and his dreams. It's not all about you!
Other observations
I found myself having a few wait what moments with this movie. Not in a bad way but enough that I had to mention here:
1) Film Title - Why was "The Attraction Test" the go to film title when not once did they ever call this watch or experiment the attraction test. The test was referred to numerous times either verbally or on promotional signs etc in the movie as either "The Dating Test" or "The Attraction Tracker." A simple thing really but it bugged me throughout the movie. I just kept wondering why they settled on this name as it didn't really flow with what I watched.
2) Bowling - When they were bowling and she took 2 shots and missed both pins she said she was done. She then took another shot after he helped her, got them all down and said she had a strike. Um...no she didn't. She got 15 points. A little thing but it bugged me. In 3 pin bowling you have 3 balls in the frame. If you get them all on ball one, it's a strike. If you knock the equivalent of all down in the second ball...it's a spare. If you knock the equivalent of all down with the 3rd ball...it's just 15 points. Oh and by the way...after her "strike" they hugged and a millisecond later you saw that the pins were lined up. Um....this was not nearly enough time for the machine to sweep the pins off the lane and reset. Just a little thing I noticed :-)
3) Watch Display - Why does her watch display her number when she is feeling something and his doesn't? Her watch visibly showed her number when she hit 90 but his never did. Why is that? When you saw the results of the dates in her office, his numbers were up in the 90s too so wouldn't his also show up on his watch?
So overall I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. It has a unique plot, humour and great chemistry. This one is definitely worth the "watch."
I agree. A really cute movie. Better tgan I expected