232. Every Day; movie review

EVERY DAY
Cert 12A
97 mins
BBFC advice: Contains moderate bad language, infrequent suicide references

Is it possible that there are fewer out-and-out chick flicks released at cinemas nowadays?
It feels as if I spend more of my time being bored by superheroes than embarrassed by squealing teenagers.
And perhaps that is because they don't do nearly as well at the box office as they did in the days of Twilight.
Anyway, Every Day is chick lit turned chick flick, even though the original novel, on which it was based, was written by a chap - David Levithan.
The premise is that there is ethereal being who wakes up in a different teenager's body every morning.
So, it maybe and boy or a girl and for 24 hours their own personalities go into sleep mode while it takes over.
Somehow it manages to avoid being detected despite not knowing the key relationships in the host's life.
Until one day - when it is the grouchy boyfriend (Justice Smith) of a wide-eyed of.a bright, beautiful  but unconfident 16-year-old (Angourie Rice).
She/he falls for the kind teenager who has the day of her life, thinking she has suddenly found the attentive side of a boyfriend who usually ignores her.
The following day her beau is back to his worst, showing off, putting his friends before her and she is left bewildered, especially when a teenage girl suddenly shows interest in her.
Yep, the transferable spirit is another guise.
I accept that Every Day will is the type of fantasy romance story that teenage girls may go for.
It also has an important message which surrounds what is beneath the surface rather than judging people by their looks or even sexuality.
On the downside, it is flimsy. Once the above points have been made, it struggles to find its direction and occasionally drifts off into the plain daft as director Michael Sucsy tries to bring it back on track.
And, ultimately, its audience is too niche to make it a success.

Reasons to watch: If you are a lovelorn teenage girl or gay boy or girl
Reasons to avoid: It descends into the daft

Laughs: None
Jumps: None
Vomit: Yes
Nudity: None
Overall rating: 5.5/10

Director quote - Michael Sucsy: "In junior high I wasn't out but I remember a bully named Justin who used to hang a page ripped from Playgirl magazine on my locker to try to humiliate me."

The big question - When will sexuality no longer matter?

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