Everyone loves the classic romance story of two best friends who constantly deny the obvious connection, until they finally realize they are soul mates and get married and live happily ever.

The movie One Day, starring Anne Hathaway and Jim Sturgess has taken this classic love story and shattered it into a million pieces.

Dexter (Sturgess) and Emma (Hathaway) meet on July 15, 1988, the day of their college graduation. What begins as an awkward and unlikely friendship evolves over the next 20 years. The movie jumps from one year to the next on the anniversary of their first meeting, but there is never enough background information given or detail about a particular year to get the story moving, making it very hard to follow.

This departed from the classic romance story as the characters never evolve or develop.

In the classic story, the guy is supposed to improve himself over the movie. He’s supposed to realize what a jerk he is and become a better guy for the girl best friend that is always there for him. He’s supposed to become decent. But Dexter stayed exactly the same the entire movie. Every year Emma would give him a chance to finally acknowledge his feelings for her and instead he would surprise her with an introduction to his new girlfriend or a self-pity rant and once, an invitation to his wedding. It makes one hate Dexter for being such an insensitive jerk and be annoyed and frustrated with Emma for allowing him to treat her that way.

Sappy chick flicks are one thing, but this was just depressing. It takes way too long for Dexter and Emma to finally get together. And then they threw in another curveball that was just too much. One Day is a must see for cynics, those fed up with love or people that are just angry at the world. But for the rest of the movie viewing public, it’s best to stay away.