It Ends With Us (2024)

People may be more interested in the behind-the-scenes drama than the onscreen result now that It Ends With Us is way beyond the marketing and all-smiles-for-the-release phase, but it's a film that I actually saw before the release of the full details of what allegedly happened while it was being made. So I'll try just to judge it on what we get within the film.

It's a strange mix, and ultimately not a great film.

Blake Lively plays Lily Bloom, who is the latest fictional character in a long line of those who prove the idea of nominative determinism when she gathers up the courage and funds to open her own florist shop. She becomes firm friends with Allysa (Jenny Slate), which also leads to her dating Allysa's brother, Ryle (Justin Baldoni). Lily also ends up reconnecting with someone from her past, Atlas Corrigan (Brandon Sklenar), and this causes tension between her and Ryle, which highlights the problem that Ryle has controlling his temper. 

Adapted from the Colleen Hoover book by Christy Hall, and directed by Baldoni, there's something worthwhile, and even admirable, about It Ends With Us. The third act presents a surprisingly impactful and pointed look at the many ways people can excuse, and even justify, red flags/violence/abuse in their loved ones, often until it is far too late to get themselves into a much safer situation. The fact that it's all dressed up in so prettily, just like a standard romantic movie, is both a plus and a minus for it. I understand that it's a way to sell the film, as well as being a way to present the rose-filtered glasses that people can have on while trying to hold on to a relationship that isn't worth their time, but it undoubtedly works against the more serious thematic strand that is the main thrust of the film.

Lively is a really good lead, she can do gritty and strong as well as she can do soft and mushy, and this role needs her to do both. Slate is also a big plus, portraying someone who seems to be a really good friend, but takes time to fully step up when things are taking a turn for the worse. As for Baldoni and Sklenar, they're both here more for their looks than their acting talent, from what I can tell, but the latter certainly has more of an appealing screen presence than the former, and that clearly helps with how the story wants to pan out. You get decent supporting turns from Hasan Minhaj (partner of Slate's character), Kevin McKidd and Amy Morton (parents of a young Lily, who is played well by Isabela Ferrer), and Alex Neustaedter (young Atlas), but anyone moving around onscreen tends to be there in service of the unfolding stories of Lily, Ryle, and Atlas, and the film moves in and out of interactions always ready to get right back alongside one of the leads.

I am not familiar with the source material (and I don't think I'll ever want to dive into any Colleen Hoover books, as upsetting as I'm sure that is for her to hear as she cries into her millions), but I can't help thinking there was a better way to adapt it into a film. It's only the third act that stands out, and that's only thanks to the use of a metaphorical bright marker pen underlining the real message of the movie, and even making it feel very like a love triangle seems to be a disservice to a lot of women who will watch this and recognise some disturbingly familiar moments. 

Considering the relative success, I'm sure we'll see more attempts to adapt Colleen Hoover novels in the near future. You could say that it's unlikely to end with this. Maybe the others will be less problematic. We'll just have to wait and see.

5/10

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Prime Time: I Want You Back (2022)

Writers Isaac Aptaker and Elizabeth Berger have an extensive body of work already, most of it in the realm of television, and it's clear that they know the same rom-com rules that the rest of us are all too aware of. I Want You Back is, despite some of the more twisted moments, a fairly traditional rom-com. Fortunately, it's a very enjoyable one.

Charlie Day is Peter, a man heartbroken when his partner, Anne (Gina Rodriguez), tells him that they shouldn't be together any more. Jenny Slate is Emma, a woman thrown into the same level of emotional pain when her partner, Noah (Scott Eastwood), delivers the same message. As Noah is developing a relationship with a woman named Ginny (Clark Backo), and Anne is cosying up to a colleague, Logan (Manny Jacinto), Peter and Emma come together in their grief, discover the mutual cause of their pain, and team up to get their exes back. Peter aims to befriend Noah, getting close enough to start having conversations with him that will make him doubt the strength of his relationship with Ginny, while Emma thinks she can seduce Logan, therefore separating him and Anne. Things soon get a bit messy.

Director Jason Orley hasn't been at the helm of too many projects so far. His first feature was Big Time Adolescence, which was then followed by a Pete Davidson TV special. As Davidson also makes a cameo appearance here, that's three for three. Perhaps Orley thinks that he is his lucky charm. He might be right. I recall enjoying what I saw of Big Time Adolescence (I need to revisit it though, my viewing was interrupted and I forgot to pick up again where I left off) and this film is an easy viewing choice for those who like the leads, those who want a few laughs, and those who will watch anything that comes under the umbrella of "rom-com".

Day and Slate are great in the lead roles. Both manage to balance their personas just right, showing how they have been hurt and want to hit back without making themselves seem like truly horrible people (even though their plan is absolutely horrible). Day gets to deliver the easier laughs, but Slate has a lot of the subtle and smarter lines throughout. Eastwood isn't bad here either, if he keeps this up then I may stop dreading his appearance in every movie, and Backo is very sweet as the new woman that he has fallen in love with. Rodriguez has a lot less to do, often at the edge of certain scenes until she serves as the final punctuation, but Jacinto is hilariously narcissistic and egotistical. There's also a great turn from Luke David Blumm, playing a young boy named Trevor who ends up being helped by Slate's character.

The situations get gradually more ridiculous, and amusing, there’s a wonderful sub-plot revolving around a stage production of Little Shop Of Horrors, and the last few scenes are sweet and predictable. This is very solid rom-com territory, and Day and Slate show how well they work with this kind of material. They soften their personas slightly, but not in a way that will upset people who have been fans of them for a long time already.

An easy watch, and I hope both Day and Slate have many more upcoming projects to make good use of their talents.

7/10

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Venom (2018)

The more I think about Venom, the more I find to like about it. The fact that it is such a strange . . . mess (not unlike the titular character) just adds to its appeal, and Tom Hardy gives a fun central performance, both physically and vocally.

The basic story goes like this. Hardy is Eddie Brock, a journalist who has a habit of pushing things too far in order to get to the heart of any story. His latest story concerns shady happenings at a science facility, overseen by Carlton drake (Riz Ahmed). He ruffles feathers, he gets sacked, and he ends up with a symbiote attached to his body. This is a creature that can stay hidden within Eddie for some time, but breaks out when the host body is put in danger, or when it gets hungry. It can appear at other times but those are the two main motivators. But will it destroy Eddie, or will the inevitable pile of corpses end up with his own being the last one upon it?

I just described the performance by Hardy as fun but that's really the word that I should use to describe this entire film. It's fun, it's a romp, and there are times when it's madder than a bag of badgers. Full marks must go to the cast and director Ruben Fleischer, because everyone somehow knows the best way to work with material that has the potential to vary wildly in tone, yet manages to remain consistently darkly comedic.

The script, written by Kelly Marcel, Jeff Pinkner, and Scott Rosenberg, manages to stay just the right side of dumb. The characters aren't very complex, the main baddie is obvious from the very first scenes, and it seems that everyone understands that viewers want to see Tom Hardy developing new powers and transforming into something that will happily bite the heads off people.

This is Hardy's show, from his conversations with himself to his manic nervousness as he tries and tries to get his body back under his own control, and he's a star completely unafraid to throw himself completely into things. It's easy to praise actors as fearless when they're cast in roles that require them to bare themselves completely, both emotionally and physically, but Hardy is equally fearless in a different way. In fact, it's at least partially down to his sheer presence and force of will that this ends up being as entertaining as it is. Ahmed is fine, although there are a number of scenes when his more understated performance feels a bit out of place, and Michelle Williams plays her part, which leaves her sidelined for a lot of the movie, with a twinkle in her eye that suggests she got paid a decent amount for a role that let her have more fun than many of her more prestigious turns.

Is there anything here to dislike? Of course there is. The CGI is varied in quality (sometimes excellent, sometimes eye-searingly awful, especially in one or two scenes that have far too much going on), the grand finale is a bit of an anti-climax, and, perhaps worst of all for fans of the character, Venom has been turned into a softened version of the beast that comic readers have enjoyed for many years. That will upset some viewers. But it doesn't harm the film in any way, and I already have high hopes for the inevitable sequel.

8/10

Venom is available to buy here.
Americans can pick it up here.

Hotel Artemis (2018)

We've had a lot of great action movies in recent years, and a number of them have taken the time to at least hint at an unseen criminal world running parallel to our own. Hotel Artemis is another film along those lines. It's a blend of sci-fi, action, and standard thriller stuff. It's not great though. Unfortunately, it struggles to even be good.

Jodie Foster plays The Nurse, the woman in charge of the titular building. It's a safe haven for criminals, an exclusive medical facility that has some hard rules in place for the safety of everyone who comes and goes. If you're not up to date with your subscription payments then you can't get in. You can't bring in weapons. And you don't hassle the staff (Foster and her right hand man, Dave Bautista). Of course, these rules all start to be broken on a night when one man (Sterling K. Brown, in a lead role that feels very much like a supporting one) turns up, wounded brother in tow, after a botched robbery. There's a riot in the city causing problems, a couple of other residents (Sofia Boutella and Charlie Day) not getting along too well, a wounded cop (Jenny Slate) in need of assistance, and a surprise visit from the wounded owner of the establishment (Jeff Goldblum).

Hotel Artemis is so close to being a good film that it's almost frustrating to consider how much it misses the mark. The cast are all very good, and very good in their roles (even Charlie Day, who I like in comedic work but sometimes seems miscast when in more serious roles), the hints at the unrest going on in society are intriguing, but never developed into anything more worthwhile, and the few scenes that show the more badass characters actually being badass are fun (although Bautista is sorely underused, and when will Sofia Boutella be given the action movie lead role that she deserves?).

Writer-director Drew Pearce spends far too much time showing that this is his first feature, and that most of his written work used him best as part of a team of creative minds working towards the same goal. There's a damaging lack of focus, an unearned confidence in the dialogue scenes (Foster and Goldblum may be enjoyable to just listen to as they speak but they still need to be given more than the cheesy and clichéd dialogue that they're given here), and a general inability to give any of the main players material that is worthy of their talents. I also had an issue with the way we were given the rules of the hotel, only for them to be broken with far too little time or pressure applied to the decisions.

Take a bunch of lesser-known names and this movie becomes a straight-to-disc time waster. With this cast, however, there's really no way it can be viewed as anything other than a disappointment. The only person who comes close to being used well is Boutella, and even that feels too little too late, in an action sequence during the third act that puts her front and centre.

5/10

You can buy the disc here.
Americans can buy it here.