But unfortunately that’s not exactly what we get, with the film instead opting to deliver a pretty standard example of its genre and concentrating more on the laughs than crafting any sort of coherent message about what it means to be young, free and single. Or older, guarded and single. Or just generally unattached. Do not be mistaken – this is not a film about learning to be alone. For much of its running time, How To Be Single is actually about the ways in which single people might go about meeting one another, and how a preoccupation with the cliches of singledom can actually be just as harmful as obsessing over finding the right partner. It’s here that the film finds its sweet spot, taking so many of the cliches about dating and throwing them out the window. The success of the male characters varies, but the casting is everything. Damon Wayans Jr is a good TV actor who generally chooses bad films in which to star, but he turns in a surprisingly affecting, almost comedy-free, performance here. Jake Lacy is also characteristically charming as Ken – love interest to Meg – almost playing the polar opposite of his character in Obvious Child. Nicholas Braun, on the other hand, is given the film’s worst character, but he does what he can. One of the most disappointing yet unsurprising things about the film is the lack of diverse storylines it chooses to tell. All the film’s women are straight and white, which we knew from the poster, and they’re all apparently wealthy enough to live alone in one of the world’s most expensive cities. Damon Wayans Jr is the only non-white face here, but then he is also revealed to be incredibly wealthy and successful. For a movie that’s supposed to be relatable to the average human, it sure doesn’t go out of its way to be inclusive. It’s also weirdly confrontational, perpetuating the idea that there’s a right way and a wrong way to live your life. Meg, for instance, appears to be proud of the fact that she’s dedicated her life to being a top doctor without the distractions of marriage and family, but she’s also immediately ridiculed for this. She’s hiding, the film tells us, and her childless existence was just a phase she was going through until she found a particularly cute baby. The modern rom-com movement is a strange one, purporting to be about women finding their way without getting tied down yet still relying heavily on the most conservative values about sex and dating. How To Be Single is a baby-step away from that, thankfully (it’s exclusively sex-positive, for one), but for every little thing it gets right it does something else bizarrely backwards straight after. For a few laughs with friends in this most romantic of months, How To Be Single succeeds but, if you’re looking for anything more substantial or progressive, you’re best off looking elsewhere. How To Be Single is in UK cinemas from February 19th. Follow our Twitter feed for faster news and bad jokes right here. And be our Facebook chum here.