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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Shudder Saturday: Son (2021)

I've only seen one other film from writer-director Ivan Kavanagh, but that film is one I still praise to this day, the superb psychological horror The Canal. Seeing his name pop up at the start of Son immediately piqued my interest. I had no idea what the film was actually about, although knowing what you're getting into isn't necessarily a bad thing, certainly not in this instance anyway.

Andi Matichak plays Laura, mother to a young boy named David (Luke David Blumm). When she is disturbed one evening by a number of people seemingly standing around David while he sleeps, Laura calls the police, which is how she comes to meet an officer named Paul (Emile Hirsch). As nerves start to abate slightly, David then falls into a disturbing physical state, becoming ill in a way that mystifies the nearby hospital and staff. Laura will do anything to make her son better and keep him safe, but that may mean confronting her troubled past, including David's father.

Although it starts off with more than a little sense of mystery, Son is a film that very quickly puts its cards on the table. It actually sits comfortably within one particular subgenre, although fair play to Kavanagh for dressing it up in a way that allows it to feel a bit removed from the norm for a number of scenes. Once the end credits roll, it's not hard to think back over what you've just watched and evaluate it entirely as another psychological horror, especially when you consider the delicate mental state of the main character through most of it.

Matichak is a very solid lead, and gets to show off even more of her talent than she did in Halloween (2018). It helps that she also works well with young Blumm, who has to spend a number of scenes ensuring he looks ill and in the midst of numerous throes of pain. Hirsch is required to do the least of the three leads, and he works better when alongside the other two than when separated from them, but he's perfectly fine in his role. It is, however, the only recent role of his that I could easily imagine being better with someone else in his place. Hirsch is someone I enjoy seeing onscreen, but he does better portraying characters who can still have a bit of naivete about them.

Sadly, Kavanagh makes things a bit too unambiguous and obvious early on, something that he then continues to do right through to the very end of the film. That's a shame, and it's a misjudgement on his part that stops the film from ever being as good as it could be. Despite his best efforts, everything feels predictable and slightly disappointing when you realise that there aren't going to be any major surprises. Mind you, it's definitely not a bad film, and I still look forward to seeing Kavanagh's name appear on anything that I check out.

6/10

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The King Of Staten Island (2020)

Pete Davidson, in case you are unaware of him, has established a persona of being a lovable asshole. He's been doing some fun work on SNL, and is almost equally well-known for being someone who lost his firefighter father when he was only a young boy (during the work to rescue people trapped in the rubble of the attack on the Twin Towers on September 11th).

In The King Of Staten Island, which Davidson co-wrote with Dave Sirus and director Judd Apatow, he plays Scott, a young man who has never really managed to get over the fact that his firefighter father died in the line of duty when he was a young boy. He acts like it doesn't bother him, most of the time, but it clearly does. And it bothers him even more to see his mother (Marisa Tomei) become involved with another firefighter (Bill Burr). Will this affect his desire to be an inconsistent tattoo artist, get stoned, and maintain a far-too-casual relationship with the lovely Kelsey (Bel Powley)?

A lot of how you feel about The King Of Staten Island will depend on two factors. First, how you feel about Davidson. I get that his schtick isn't for everyone, but he has a nice line in self-deprecation mixed in with his attempts to get a gasp or laugh from people. Second, how you feel about Apatow movies. Yes, this runs for just over two hours. Of course. At least Stephen King used to remember how to churn out slim and exciting stories. Apatow has needed an editor on every one of his comedy features. Having said that, The King Of Staten Island doesn't feel overlong, thanks to the way it is structured. It has four main acts, and each one develops nicely from the one preceding it.

The central performances are great, and Davidson's character works with everyone that he's alongside. He's a sweet son used to pushing his luck with his mother, he's constantly antagonistic towards Burr's character, he cares for a girl he is also scared to commit to, and he goofs around with friends who allow him to stay comfortably in his state of arrested development. He also works well with the two youngest main cast members, Luke David Blumm and Alexis Rae Forlenza, maintaining that cool and messed-up older brother vibe he gave off in Big Time Adolescence. It's very much a two-way street though, with Davidson surrounded by top talent. As well as everyone mentioned, who are all on absolutely great form, you get some nice little turns from Steve Buscemi, Pamela Adlon, Maude Apatow, Ricky Velez, Lou Wilson, and Moises Arias.

There aren't any major set-pieces here, nothing that stands out as the easiest scene to use in selling the film, and some may want more laughs from it, but The King Of Staten Island is one of the best comedies I've seen in the past couple of years. And it also turns into something surprisingly sweet without feeling untrue to the nature of the central characters.

9/10

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