What If’s working title was probably When Harry Potter Met Sally. Daniel Radcliffe’s foray into the rom com arena shamelessly pulls storylines from the 1989 classic, attempting to modernize the big question from the film: can men and women be friends without sex complicating matters? What If is a mixed bag, but mostly succeeds because of the winning central couple, Radcliffe and Zoe Kazan, who radiate on screen with chemistry and witty banter. And giant sandwiches.
Wallace (Daniel Radcliffe), is slowly recovering from a messy breakup with his long-term girlfriend. Encouraged by his best friend Allan (Adam Driver), Wallace goes to a party and hits it off with Chantry (Zoe Kazan). The catch is Zoe has been with her boyfriend Ben (Rafe Spall) for a long time and has no intentions of breaking up. Wallace eventually relents and chooses to hang out with Chantry knowing the rules of their relationship. However, complications obviously arise for both: Chantry’s sister Dalia (Megan Park) practically throws herself at Wallace and Ben gets a great job offer but has to leave Toronto for England.
What If does a great job making us root for Chantry and Wallace to end up together. Wallace is given ample opportunities to make a move and doesn’t out of respect to the girl he likes, sometimes at personal expense. Chantry replaces Ben with Wallace because she is lonely, but makes clear what lines she will and will not cross. Walking the line between hoping for a significant other and remaining a friend to someone you’re attracted to is achingly tricky, and What If’s best moments push that tension to the limit (the best being on a beach). What If is refreshing in showcasing mature adults dealing with a real life problem, making you invested in their fates because of how real these people seem.
However, What If lags behind in the comedy department compared to When Harry Met Sally. Pratfalls are resorted to very often, even having someone fall out of a window unexpectedly. Chantry is a graphic designer, so in fits of whimsy things she creates fly off the page and wander around the city night, for no real benefit or cost, just because it could be done. Allan and his girlfriend Nicole (Mackenzie Davis) feel less like people and more like giant plot devices because of the ludicrous things they do. The comedy when not focused on the leads lands sparingly, and mostly inhibits What If from being taken more seriously than it should be.
Daniel Radcliffe is a magical surprise as Wallace. His Hogwarts past is nonexistent about a half an hour in: Radcliffe nails punchlines with ease, hits the right emotional beats, and gives the movie a magnetic quality that only a movie star can pull off. Zoe Kazan has to play the straight man to Radcliffe, and has the wide-eyed earnestness envied by every guy who desires a nice girl. She’s charming and easily fits in with Radcliffe’s banter and self-deprecation. Adam Driver, Mackenzie Davis, and Megan Park are requisitely crazy as the friends giving advice. Each of them are talented enough though to give detail to their broadly drawn characters in the little moments. Rafe Spall is the weak link, mostly due to underdevelopment from the screenplay.
Toronto lights up at night from What If’s love story. Daniel Radcliffe can be a leading man if he chooses to, and Zoe Kazan is cuter than the button she will be compared to. I will say, Toronto looks like a really fun city to hang out in thanks to What If; I kinda wish they would stop trying to imitate other cities and showcase how cool Toronto is. Come on Toronto, you have a crack smoking mayor!