Based on the best-selling book by David Nicholls, One Day has been described as the romance of the modern century. So the big-screen adaptation has naturally been one of the eagerly awaited films of the year. Anne Hathaway and Jim Sturgess take the leads as bookish Yorkshire lass Emma Morley and charming ladies’ man Dexter Mayhew, who have a drunken encounter on their graduation on St Swithin’s Day in 1988, and make a pact to remain friends.

“When I sleep with someone, I either end up crying or weeping. We might bump into each other in the future. We’ll just be friends,” remarks Em, after a lame attempt at seducing Dexter, to which he replies: “Let’s keep in touch.”

True to their words, they stay in touch over the next few years, as Dex travels the world and Emma slaves away in a Mexican restaurant in London.

Their friendship is tested, first in 1992, when they decide on a whim to go away on holiday together.

Although each is in London — Dex working with a young Jonathan Ross as his TV career hits a peak and Em, who is now dating stand-up comic Ian (Rafe Spall), training as a teacher — they often lose touch before reconnecting.

Unsurprisingly, the film, directed by An Education’s Lone Scherfig with a script by Nicholls, rushes through the characters’ lives throughout 20 years, as they deal with the joys and heartbreaks of life.

The challenge of the adaptation depends largely on the chemistry between Hathaway and Sturgess.

Hathaway — who has been described as too ‘glamorous’ for the part — does a pretty good job, although she switches between Yorkshire and London accents, with her American twang slipping out in certain scenes.

The casting of Sturgess is a surprise but rather spot on.

Although Spall steals the show as Ian, the other characters, such as Romola Garai as Dex’s wife Sylvie and Patricia Clarkson as his mother, feel largely underused.

The book is so well-loved that it is tough to do it justice, but despite everything, it’s an able adaptation capturing the spirit of the book, which fans will still enjoy.

Sam (Nicholas D’Agosto) dreams of becoming a chef while working in the office of a paper manufacturer in Final Destination 5. He’s been tasked with organising a staff away day for his colleagues, who include on-off girlfriend Molly (Emma Bell), best friends Peter (Miles Fisher) and Nathan (Arlen Escarpeta), sleazy Isaac (P J Byrne) and Olivia (Jacqueline MacInnes Wood).

All is well until the bus they’re travelling on gets stuck in traffic on a suspension bridge. Sam has a premonition about his friends’ impending doom and as his daydream comes to an end, Sam realises what he saw in his mind’s eye and hurries his friends off the bus. Sceptical at first, they soon start following when cracks appear in the road and all make it to safety. Death has been cheated — and Death doesn’t like that.

Very quickly Sam and his friends are under threat . . .

The second of the five films to be shot in 3D, the extra dimension is no mere afterthought and does add something to the horrific action scenes, and the final scene’s nod to the first film of the series is a clever twist. Ultimately, barring Tony Todd’s performance as the camp coroner, this is a badly acted, terribly scripted film, inhabited by unlikeable, forgettable characters. But to say this is to miss the point, like saying Schindler’s List was a bit light on gags.

Approached for what it is — a series of over-the-top, laughter-inducing, gruesome death scenes pieced together by an implausible plot — and this might be the best Final Destination yet.