Daily Times

Natalie, an Aussie architect working in Manhattan, hates romantic comedies. She’s allergic to all the clichés of the genre and ever since she was a child, her mom has taught her that Hollywood fantasies with Julia Roberts, Sandra Bullock, etc are “not for girls like us”. Working in New York does nothing to disabuse Natalie of the notion. She’s “extra-invisible” to her company’s handsome client, Blake, who Natalie describes as “CW hot.” He rudely treats her as a lowly assistant and barks orders for coffee. Meanwhile, she is adored by nebbish co-worker Josh, but she doesn’t notice. Work is her only passion. Then, boom, everything changes. While chasing a mugger in the subway, Natalie smashes into a pole. Newly concussed, she wakes up in a New York with a glossy PG-13 filter on it. Cinematographer Simon Duggan’s camera shoots everything pastel-bright like a Martha Stewart catalogue, notably Natalie’s transformed apartment which is now magazine-spread ready.

Published in Daily Times, February 17^th 2019.