Synopsis
It Ends With Us, the first Colleen Hoover novel adapted for the big screen, tells the compelling story of Lily Bloom (Blake Lively), a woman who overcomes a traumatic childhood to embark on a new life in Boston and chase a lifelong dream of opening her own business. A chance meeting with charming neurosurgeon Ryle Kincaid (Justin Baldoni) sparks an intense connection, but as the two fall deeply in love, Lily begins to see sides of Ryle that remind her of her parents’ relationship. When Lily’s first love, Atlas Corrigan (Brandon Sklenar), suddenly reenters her life, her relationship with Ryle is upended, and Lily realizes she must learn to rely on her own strength to make an impossible choice for her future.
What We Thought:
I’m an adult male who is older than most people realize and I had no idea what It Ends With Us was about before seeing it. Not only have I not read the book it is based on, I had never even heard of the book. I saw the film because it stars Blake Lively and because it was filmed in Boston where I am based out of. To say I’m not the target audience for the movie would be 100% accurate so if you don’t care what a guy has to say about the film feel free to click the X up top, I won’t be offended.
If you are still with me you can probably guess that the movie wasn’t for me. I got nothing out of it not because of its content, but because I thought the actual film was bad and I’ll explain why. First of all the dialogue was cheesy. Having never read the book I can’t say if the adaptation is similar to the source material so I’m strictly going by what characters say in the movie. What they say in the movie isn’t what people in the real world would ever say. In a flashback scene the younger version of the Atlas character asks the younger version of the Lily character why she kissed him. No teenaged boy would ever ask that. He would simply be too happy it happened and would ask if they could do it again. Lily asks her husband if he’s happy in a scene. If you’ve ever been in a real life relationship with another person, you know that question never goes the way you want it to. The dialogue feels like your standard cliched words you find in most romance films or Lifetime movies. And don’t think it’s just a guy mocking the dialogue, a female press member sitting next to me also laughed at the cringe we were hearing.
For a heavy film about a terrible situation, the movie feels too standard. Not only do I review movies I also work on them here in Boston and unfortunately almost every film uses the same standard shots of the city. Before the screening started the same female press member joked with me about drone shots she expected in the film and sure enough once the movie finds its way to Boston there’s an overhead drone shot of the city. There’s the standard flyover of the Zakim Bridge, another shot following the Red Line of the MBTA over its bridge, etc. The only thing it was missing was the standard Fenway Park scene although they make up for that by having the characters at a bar for a Boston Bruins game. I will give it credit for not having too many characters attempt the Boston accent. Only one bad attempt really stood out. Two of the main characters are originally from Maine so that probably helps not having too many bad Boston accents in it. I have the craziest Boston accent you’ll ever hear so I’m an expert on this stuff.
I think my biggest issue with the film is its multiple endings. There’s a scene with Blake Lively finally standing up for herself, she has a great monologue and it’s the feel good moment the crowd desperately deserves. She even says the name of the movie in her speech! Then the movie continues for ten more minutes or so and if you actually think about what happens at the end (I won’t spoil it), her character loses all that independent woman vibe she gained in the previous scene. I understand there’s a follow up book and the movie ends with an opening for a sequel, but Blake’s scene ten minutes earlier was genuinely powerful and what the audience deserved after two hours of sitting there. Fade to black on her words and let the (female) crowd cheer.
It’s pretty irrelevant what I thought of It Ends With Us. If it becomes a sleeper hit it’s because its target audience shows up and the fans of the book go see it. I do think it’s for a specific audience, most likely not male and most likely under 30 years of age. Not too many people (male and female) over 30 seemed to enjoy it, but a group of under 30 women couldn’t wait to see it again this weekend. And I’m fine with that, not every movie is made for everyone. I do think the casting agent deserves an award because whoever found the younger version of Lily crushed it because that young actress looks and sounds like a younger Blake Lively. I also hope Carhartt paid a fortune for all its product placement because to cover up an absolutely gorgeous woman like Blake Lively in oversized Carhartt gear (a jumper in one scene, big Carhartt jacket in another plus more) should be against the law. If characters with names like Lily, Atlas and Ryle (is that even a name?) seem like something you’d be interested in then I recommend it for you. If the audience doesn’t turn up at the box office I do think it’ll find legs on streaming, but the film just isn’t for me.
The Nerds Templar 