Rose Byrne, Chris O'Dowd, and Ethan Hawke star in the trailer for Jesse Peretz's Nick Hornby adaptation, Juliet, Naked. The romantic comedy is but one of several films that premiered at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year, and will join the 2018 summer movie derby over the next two months. Other Sundance veterans on the horizon include Carlos López Estrada's examination of race and class in Blindspotting, Crystal Moselle's coming of age skateboarding drama Skate Kitchen, and Aneesh Chaganty's visually experimental thriller Searching.

Bryne stars in Juliet, Naked as Annie, a long-suffering woman whose boyfriend Duncan (O'Dowd) is an obsessive fan of the semi-obscure rocker Tucker Crowe (Hawke). Much to Annie and Duncan's surprise, the pair end up meeting Tucker in person, after an acoustic demo of the musician's 25-year old hit record surfaces. Even more unexpected, however, are the sparks that fly between Annie and Tucker as they get to know one another, despite them being from opposite sides of the pond.

Hornby's novel was adapted for the big screen by Peretz's sister and Our Idiot Brother cowriter Evgenia Peretz, along with Oscar-winner Jim Taylor (Sideways, Downsizing) and Oscar-nominee Tamara Jenkins (The Savages). Byrne, O'Dowd, and Hawke are joined in the cast here by such names as Jimmy O. Yang (Silicon Valley), Megan Dodds (CSI: NY), and Azhy Robertson (The Americans) in supporting roles. For more, check out Roadside Attractions' trailer for Juliet, Naked, in the space above.

Juliet, Naked earned an overall mixed-to-positve reception from the critics who saw it at Sundance back in January. Judging by the early reviews, the film does a respectable job at combining awkward but tender romantic comedy with an exploration of obsessive adult fanboy culture, in the same way that Hornby novels-turned movies like High Fidelity and Fever Pitch have before it. At the same time, however, it sounds like Juliet, Naked might be a little too low-key and by the numbers for its own good.

Still, thanks to its charming leads and the amiable tone suggested by the trailer, Juliet, Naked should be able to find some success as counter-programming when it hits theaters in August. It will certainly stand apart from its direct opening weekend competition, which includes the Mark Wahlberg action/thriller Mile 22 and prehistoric adventure Alpha. Crazy Rich Asians also hits theaters a few days before Juliet, Naked, but there's no reason why these two (very different) rom-coms can't thrive at the same time.

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Juliet, Naked begins playing in select U.S. theaters this summer on Friday, August 17.

Source: Roadside Attractions