The lobby at the local AMC looked a lot different than usual last week, as a “girls’ night out” preview of a new release brought hordes of women to the theater.
“It Ends with Us” star and producer Blake Lively teamed with her husband, “Deadpool” star Ryan Reynolds, in an attempt to recapture some of the magic that made last year’s “Barbenheimer” weekend such a success in counter programming.
In its third week, “Deadpool and Wolverine” ($53 million), narrowly edged out the debut of “It Ends with Us ($50 million), but that’s undoubtedly a win for a book adaptation aimed at a decidedly different audience.
A lot of the audience was already familiar with the 2016 Colleen Hoover novel of the same name. Hoover, who literally sold more copies than the Bible last year, co-wrote the screenplay for her first adaptation, and film versions of her books “Verity” and “Regretting You” are also on the way. Based on the popularity of her books, and the initial success of the first film, it’s not crazy to think Hoover is on the way to becoming this decade’s John Grisham.
With all the buzz surrounding “It Ends with Us,” including juicy gossip-column rumors surrounding its production, it’s not a surprise that it’s initially successful, although its shelf life and legacy might be a different matter.
The plot follows Blake Lively as Lily Bloom, which is not the only eyebrow raising name in the story. The book is written in first person from Bloom’s perspective, and the film also follows her character in every scene. After losing her father and demonstrating conflicting feelings about her relationship with him, Bloom opens a trendy flower shop and starts a relationship with handsome neurosurgeon Ryle Kincaid (Justin Baldoni, also the film’s director).
The initial meeting between the two main characters, a rooftop scene allegedly co-written by Reynolds, is a pretty conventional, charming meet-cute. As their relationship develops, the narrative seems like a pretty conventional romance, oddly devoid of any real narrative conflict.
That changes when an old flame reenters the picture. Atlas Corrigan, played by “1923’s” Brandon Sklenar, lost contact with Bloom following a traumatic teenage experience. Bloom and Corrigan’s backstory is told through a series of flashbacks throughout the film.
Lively delivers an excellent leading performance, as she has in underrated should-be classics like “A Simple Favor” and “Age of Adeline.” Jenny Slate is excellent in the relatively thankless best friend role, and both lead actors are handsome and dangerous when necessary.
What starts as a conventional romance takes a dark turn as themes of domestic violence drive the narrative, forcing several characters to confront troubling patterns from their past.
The movie is entertaining and engaging, with excellent performances and all the trappings of a top-tier romance, but some of the film’s choices are a little baffling in hindsight. The film doesn’t romanticize domestic violence, quite the opposite, but its portrayal seems more slight than the topic calls for. Whether the film’s misdirections represent a narrator who may be lying to herself might be giving it too much credit to justify narrative whiplash.
Still, as a night at the theater, it’s a solid experience. It’s engaging for its entire 2:10 running time, and anything outside of the comic book, horror or children’s genres is a welcome addition to movie screens.
