Flipped

Director: Rob Reiner
Writers: Rob Reiner, Andrew Scheinman, Wendelin Van Draanen (author)
Starring: Madeline Carroll, Callan McAuliffe
Release Date: August 27, 2010
Length: 1 hour 30 minutes

Rob Reiner directed phenomenal films in the past including When Harry Met Sally, Misery and Stand By Me. When you hear his name, you think of his films from 1984-1995, you don’t think or even know about the films he has made recently because they are nothing compared to his previous films. Although it is cute, Flipped is no comeback for Reiner. Taking place in the early 1960’s, Flipped tells the story of Bryce and Juli, two 14-year-old neighbours whose families come from different economical backgrounds. When the pair first met, when they were 7, Juli smothered Bryce, as she had an enormous crush on him and he detested her. As the film progresses, the audience get’s to see the change in relationship as their feelings for each other start to flip. The screen literally flips each time the film goes back and forth between Juli’s and Bryce’s perspective. They both narrate through the whole film to show the different sides of what is happening. Based off the book by Wendelin Van Draanen, Flipped stayed completely faithful to the book. When I say completely, I mean not one little thing changed. That should be a good thing, and it’s hard to complain about this, when I find myself complaining about a film adaptation that doesn’t stay true to the book. However, as someone who read the book, I knew exactly what was going to happen next and there were absolutely no surprises. That unfortunately took away a huge chunk of my interest. I was still able to enjoy the innocence and charm of a story about first love. The lead actors, Madeleine Carrol (Swing Vote) and Callan McAuliffe were adorable to watch on screen and the fact that the film takes place in the 60’s makes everything a little sweeter. Changing the setting of the time was the only difference between the book and the movie and may have been what I loved most about the film. The costumes, to the old dialogue with the 60’s catchphrases, and even the cinematography all kept my interest. What I mentioned before about the perspective changing meant that some scenes were replayed twice to see what both characters were thinking. Some scenes worked because they showed lots of different things that were happening in the scene. In scenes just between the two of them, I did not need to see the same thing twice because I just didn’t care that much and my interest was once again lost. If you haven’t read the book, I’ll bet you’ll enjoy this a lot more than I did. At the same time though, you can do without it because Flipped is not that special.