I Want You Back
Might contain spoilers.
Very, very funny in parts; tolerable overall. It would have been a much better film at 90 minutes instead of 120 (and without the needlessly dark æsthetic—it should have borrowed some lighter tones from the great The Breaker Upperers ). It’s also uncomfortably raunchy: not sexy, not fun, only funny to a degree. Witness Logan’s desperation to get to it and Ann trying to get him away from Emma, where both actresses look deeply uncomfortable standing around in their underwear for an extended period, or Peter being stuck in the basket while Noah and Ginny go to bed: slightly funny, but not nearly enough. Another example is Leighton the 17-year-old interested in Peter: Pete Davidson is good as her ex, but the entire affair is uncomfortable.
Charlie Day is excellent as the deeply unappealing Peter. Emma is right to throw the fact that he abandoned her in his face. Emma herself is scatterbrained and immature but very funny—Jenny Slate is fantastic—and not devoid of charm. The boy playing the lead in the school play[1] is hilariously good: sincere, just talented enough, and completely unfettered.
I enjoyed Manny Jacinto as Logan, Gina Rodriguez as Ann, and my personal favourite, Scott Eastwood as Noah. He’s so good natured you can’t dislike him even when he’s being a bit of a cad towards Emma at the beginning. Meanwhile, it’s nice that Emma’s able to help Trevor mend his relationship with his father, but I really don’t think she would make a good guidance counselor, considering the mess she’s made of her own life.
I know the final scene with the masks dropping in the plane and Peter instinctively putting Emma’s on first is meant as a sort of bookend that demonstrates his love for her, but it’s trite.
- Possibly Toby, but I’m not sure.↩