The main problem 'The Accidental Husband' has is that the two main characters are so unlikeable. Rather than falling in love with them, I ended up really disliking them. Patrick's boorishness and Emma's constant prevarication really grated on me. When they ride off in Patrick's fire engine at the end of the movie, my overwhelming emotion was sympathy for Emma's nice guy fiancé Richard (Colin Firth) rather than happiness for Patrick and Emma. The characterization of Richard-the only obstacle in the way of Patrick and Emma getting together-is unusual for a rom-com in that he has no hidden dark side (no 'bit on the side', no secret agenda for marrying Emma for her to discover)-he is a genuinely decent man-but it means that you aren't rooting for Emma to leave him for Patrick. After the way Richard is treated by Patrick and Emma, I left the cinema feeling not so much that Patrick and Emma were made for each other, but rather that such a selfish couple really deserved each other.
Review of The Accidental Husband
