Man Up is a 2015 British Romantic Comedy directed by Ben Palmer and starring Lake Bell and Simon Pegg.
The story follows Nancy (Bell) a 34-year old single woman with a troubled romantic life who has decided to swear off dating, however while on the way to her parents who are celebrating their anniversary, she ends up meeting Jack (Pegg) a 40 year old divorcee at Waterloo station, London and is mistaken for his blind date, she then decides to play along and pretends to be his date.
The film also stars Sharon Horgan, Ken Stott, Ophelia Lovibond, Olivia Williams and Rory Kinnear.
Previews: Official Trailer
Tropes:
- Bad Date: Nancy has a history of this which is why she has decided to stop dating, we are given an example at the beginning of the film.
- Bathroom Stall of Angst: After running into his ex-wife on their date, Jack learns that she cheated on him during their marriage and becomes so upset that he goes into a bathroom stall to cry, Nancy goes in to comfort him.
- Blind Date: The premise of the story is Nancy being mistaken for Jack's blind date.
- Britain Is Only London: The story takes place in London, Nancy and Jack even meet underneath the clock at Waterloo station.
- Jerkass: Sean, he is a creepy stalker obsessed with Nancy that tries to blackmail her into kissing him by threatening to tell Jack her real identity, when Jack goes back to the bowling alley to ask Sean where Nancy's parents live Sean deliberately takes him to the wrong address.
- Jack's ex-wife Hilary is very obnoxious and antagonistic.
- Karma Houdini: Sean's attempts to Blackmail Nancy, sabotaging Jack's attempts to find her parents' house and turning up at their house himself uninvited doesn't result in him being rightfully thrown out of the house and slapped with a restraining order but instead Nancy promising to send him photos of her and Jack making love.
- Liar Revealed: After being mistaken for Jack's Blind date, Nancy decides to maintain the lie and goes on a date with Jack, however the reveal actually happens about halfway into the story.
- Opposites Attract: Nancy is very cynical while Jack is a romantic, however they end up finding they have a lot in common.
- Romantic Wingman: Jessica actually ends up becoming this for Jack while they are on a date and he realizes he has feelings for Nancy.
- Stalker with a Crush: Sean, Nancy's old classmate who works at the bowling alley that Nancy and Jack go to.
- Stood Up: Jack unknowingly does this when he runs into Nancy and mistakes her for Jessica, the woman he is supposed to be meeting and unintentionally leaves her waiting at the station unaware, she is very understanding however.
