It Ends with Us: Non-matching Halves

 

 

 

It Ends with Us (2023)

Directed by Justin Baldoni

Sony Pictures Releasing, 131 minutes, PG-13 (Domestic violence)

★★★

 

I suspect most of you are quite aware of the controversy/counter lawsuits swirling around It Ends with Us. In fact, I imagine most of you know more about than I. Squabbles, scandals, and outlandish accusations are so common in Hollywood that I stopped paying much attention to them years ago. I will concentrate on the movie, though I am aware of the unresolved sexual harassment charge leveled against director/lead actor Justin Baldoni by leading lady Blake Lively.

 

I found the movie worthwhile, but very uneven. It’s billed as a romantic drama, but that’s not quite correct. It’s actually a  two-halves film, the first of which is a romance and the second half a drama. We meet young Lily Bloom (Isabela Ferrer) in Maine at her father’s funeral. She is supposed to say five good things about her father but can’t think of even one and walks away. We later learn that he routinely beat his wife Jenny (Amy Morton) and almost killed her homeless boyfriend Atlas Corrigan (Alex Neustaedter as young Atlas) when he caught them in bed. Yes, I said homeless. She used to sneak food and her father’s castoff clothes to him and they became sweethearts, despite the humiliation thrown her way by her high school classmates.

 

Years later, Lily (then played by Blake Lively) is living in New York City and seeking to follow her dream of opening a flower shop. We find her sitting on a rooftop ledge when a young man arrives and begins kicking the patio furniture. He is Ryle Kincaid (Baldoni), a neurosurgeon who has just lost a six-year-old patient. He and Lily D flirt before Lily abruptly lowers the temperature and leaves without giving out her contact info. As she is cleaning out the building where her shop will be, Lily meets and hires Allysa (Jenny Slate). Later she meets Allysa’s husband, Marshall (Hasan Minhaj) and later still, his brother, Ryle. What are the odds? 1:8.5 million actually, but why quibble? Eventually Lily and Ryle become an item and elope. What could go wrong? Though he has a perpetual five o’clock shadow that miraculously remains the same, they seem to be simpatico, have oodles of money, and hang out with Allysa and Marshall. All is well until they book a table at a “hot” restaurant named Roots. The owner is none other than Atlas (Brandon Skelnar), all grown up and with a neat beard.

 

This part of the film is kissy-kissy, occasionally funny, and plants seeds for trouble as Lily has never really gotten over Atlas. It must be said that the dialogue is on the clunky side, It’s sort of like When Harry Met Sally stripped of sharp writing and cleverness. It opens the door for jealousy, misplaced machoism, and psychological unraveling. We know that Ryle is wound pretty tightly and is prone to egoism. Atlas is protective and kind, but also has a fuse that’s not hard to light. In such situations, innocent things can be akin to igniting a candle with a blowtorch. Call this the serious part of the movie.

 

This becomes a problem. Baldoni and Lively are good when the movie is frothy and cute. Alas, though the movie is stronger when it turns serious–and Christy Hall’s screenplay becomes sharper­–the actors lack gravitas. Skelnar is like a dog unsure who he is supposed to protect, Slate loses her sass to play the role of best friend, Baldoni is a one-dimensional jerk, and Lively is unconvincing as a woman torn in two directions. What we have is a first half so cliched that I almost turned it off and a second half that seems duct-taped onto the first. Likewise, though the lighter part of the film is more poorly written it’s better for the principals (and vice versa).

 

It Ends with Us was based on a novel by Colleen Hoover who writes for mass audiences. The film is much the same way. It got mixed reviews but pulled in big bucks at the box office. Add my mixed review to the pile. Hoover wrote a sequel titled It Begins with Us. You have to wonder how outraged Baldoni and Lively are, as they are considering a sequel with Lively directing. I’m pretty sure we don’t need such a film.

 

Rob Weir