A different kind of Valentine’s movie

CEBU, Philippines - Perfectly timed for Valentine’s Day, romantic comedy “How to Be Single” follows interconnected characters navigating the ever-shifting set of codes, customs, rituals, apps and emojis of the contemporary single life in New York City.

New York is full of lonely hearts seeking the right match, be it a love connection, a hook-up, or something in the middle. And somewhere between the teasing texts and one-night stands, what these unmarrieds all have in common is the need to learn how to be single in a world filled with ever-evolving definitions of love.

“How to Be Single” stars Dakota Johnson (“Fifty Shades of Grey”), Rebel Wilson (“Pitch Perfect”), Alison Brie (“Get Hard”) and Leslie Mann (“Knocked Up”).

Johnson stars as Alice, who sets the adventure in motion when she takes a break from her college boyfriend to get her first real taste of the single life and is hurled into a hilarious crash course in the “right way” to do it from Rebel Wilson’s alpha-single Robin, who lives the film’s tagline: ‘If you’re not having fun being single, you’re not doing it right.’ We also meet Alice’s big sister Meg, played by Mann, an obstetrician who is too busy to find Mr. Right; and Alison Brie’s Lucy, a college professor who has it down to a science.

Johnson has become one of Hollywood’s fastest-rising stars after landing the coveted role of Anastasia Steele in “Fifty Shades of Grey.” Returning to her comedy roots, she deftly handles Alice’s fumbling attempts to meet men, especially when paired with extreme party girl Robin, the perfect tour guide through the world of free drinks, hook-ups and text message protocol.

Just out of college, Alice is worried she’s missing out — on what, she’s not quite sure, but taking a “break” from longtime boyfriend Josh in order to make sure he’s the one is the right thing to do…isn’t it?

When we first meet her character, Johnson observes, “She is sort of this doe-eyed, curious woman starting college. She meets a boy right away and is quickly in a comfortable and nurturing relationship.”

Fast forward four years. “Alice has always depended on someone, whether it’s her parents, her sister or her boyfriend. Suddenly, she has this moment of realization and forces herself into what she thinks is an awakening, but which is really just a breakup,” the actress says. “But taking a break turns into a total explosion of life as she knows it, and now she has to figure out how to handle it.”

After persuading her very serious boyfriend she needs to experiment with being on her own, Alice heads to Manhattan to start a new job as a paralegal. “Right away, she falls into the hands of Robin, who’s kind of insane,” Johnson laughs. “Alice has been sheltered and established a lot of boundaries for herself; Robin has zero boundaries and doesn’t care what anyone else thinks of her, so long as she’s having fun.”

The role of Alice required a convincing amount of girl-next-door naiveté. Director Christian Ditter found Johnson to be “absolutely gorgeous but at the same time completely relatable. She grounds the story for all the other characters who are much more outrageous.”

“This is not a movie where ‘girl meets boy and happiness follows,’” Ditter says. “I think lot of other things can lead to happiness – friendship, finding yourself, figuring out what you want to do with your life. It can also mean finding a guy, or a girl, but not always. Our film is about everything that goes on in life in-between.”

According to producer Dana Fox, it’s less a romantic comedy than a funny, edgy celebration of the single life. “We wanted to make a grown-up comedy out of an ensemble rom-com,” she explains. “Most rom-coms tend to be about the romances; this is about being single, and your friends picking you up when you’re down. It’s about going out, trying to find ‘the one’ and maybe stumbling, maybe succeeding, because what you really have to find is yourself.” (FREEMAN)