Something Borrowed is the tale of a lawyer, played by Ginnifer Goodwin, who is turning 30 at the beginning of the film. Her obnoxious best friend, played by Kate Hudson, easily takes over the party she is throwing for Goodwin to talk about her wedding to Colin Egglesfield. We learn through a series of flashbacks that Goodwin and Egglesfield both liked each other when they were in law school but allowed Hudson to interfere with their potential love because they really both lack the personality to take charge in any situation. Back in the present, they sleep together and begin the film's big love triangle. Will Egglesfield stay with Hudson and marry her despite loving Goodwin? Will Goodwin continue to betray her best friend and get the guy of her dreams? Will Hudson continue to remain completely oblivious as every character in this film seems to be lacking an awareness of the world around them? The real question though is how unlikeable can these characters become?
The film takes this last question and goes as far as possible with it, making sure that by the end of the film, you don't care about any of the characters and are praying for the film to end. Goodwin and Egglesfield both lack any sort of personality as she perfects looking on the verge of tears for no visible reason and he masters the deadpan almost sad look that would be great for a model but not an actor. The flashbacks are one of the most frustrating elements of the film because the multiple scenes where they are about to kiss result in an awkward moment for no visible reason. Do they just both lack any ability to lean forward and kiss? The chemistry is obvious and they later admit that they both felt the same thing and assumed the other did. If this is so, why didn't they kiss and stop this entire mess from happening? This huge flaw prevents the story from seeming anywhere close to reality and adds a whole other layer of frustration to the film.
Kate Hudson's character is a complete contraction in the film. On the one hand, she's presented as a terrible friend for constantly stealing the spotlight from her friend and stealing the guy of her dreams without seeming to care for her feelings. However, in the present world, she is never the one who really commits the wrong acts. She does cheat on Egglesfield and is generally an obnoxious mess that audiences will naturally dislike. However, her horrible behaviour is completely obvious to the audience and the writers while Goodwin and Egglesfield complete lack of disregard for the world around them seems to swept under the carpet. The treatment of Hudson seems unfair compared to the two leads.
Finally, in an attempt to further the confuse and anger the audience, John Krasinski plays a completely unnecessary fourth wheel in the film whose role only seems to be to make gay jokes and give Goodwin a sad attempt at a self-esteem boost. He also helps to further our hatred for Hudson but his attempts seem completely without grounds so he fails in that department. Krasinski decides to pretend to be gay at one point to get rid of a girl he does not have the confidence to reject. This obviously leads to many supposedly hilarious situations but also begs the question that if Hollywood is so accepting, how long are we going to be given homosexuality as a joke? It might have given more depth to Krasinski's character if not only was he not the gay best friend to Goodwin but he didn't have to pretend to play against himself to gain laughs. Overall, his character was completely pointless and slightly offensive.
Something Borrowed is a mess of a film filled with unlikeable characters and a frustrating plot. If you think the ending will be happy, you'll be sorely disappointed when you realize half-way through the seemingly never-ending film that there is no way for the film to properly resolve itself. The actual ending is so flawed and incomplete that it is neither satisfying or happy in any way.
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