SOMEONE LIKE YOU // A FILM REVIEW OF "THE LAST FIVE YEARS"
Often in films, especially romantic comedies, filmmakers tend to layer in only what the studio feels will make the audience happy. Only the light, funny, everything wrapped up by the final credits moments. It's a formula that works. Just ask the career of Julia Roberts and Meg Ryan (well, don't ask their current day career's but you get the point). However, as we all know from, well life itself, happy endings aren't always easy to come by. And spectacular moments are often followed by serious bumps in the road that may not turn out well in the end. Those bumps make us stronger, wiser, and human. And though it may be hard to sometimes watch them in front of us as entertainment, it can also be a therapeutic experience, a beautiful one. Heartbreaking and breathtaking all at once. Composer Jason Robert Brown knows this well, and he showcases all of these human emotions in his gorgeous stage musical THE LAST FIVE YEARS. Director Richard LaGravenese seems to agree, because he's crafted one of the best musical adaptations in years.
First off, let me explain the concept behind both the stage musical and the film adaptation. The story covers five years of a relationship from the beginning to the end, from both points of view. Cathy (Anna Kendrick) begins to tell the story from the end and goes backwards throughout the film, ending at the beginning. Jamie (Jeremy Jordan) starts at the beginning and goes through towards the end. Their points of view are told at the same time, first with a song by Cathy, then Jamie. The proceedings begins with the haunting and mourning "Still Hurting," which features a still in shock Cathy coming home to read a letter from Jamie saying he's left her. We then launch to the beginning where the couple has just met and are hooking up for the first time. It may take viewers a moment to catch on to the rhythm of the time jumps (as it may have for some in the stage productions) but once you do the film flows like a sweet, sometimes bitter, sometimes glittering romance, filled with all the up and down struggles of a real relationship.
Anna Kendrick is great as Cathy. Watching her start the film wounded, betrayed, and hurt and going backwards to a trusting and hopeful young woman is quite remarkable. And her singing voice (recently displayed in the film version of Into the Woods) is stunning. Most noteworthy are her renditions of "A Summer in Ohio," "See I'm Smiling," and "The Next Ten Minutes (her only true duet with Jordan)." Most of us entering here knowing that Kendrick is great, but mostly stage actor Jeremy Jordan (Newsies, Bonnie & Clyde, Smash) is the true find here. His Jamie is soulful, funny, engaging, and powerful. "Shiksa Goddess" starts things off truly fantastic for him; his delivery is a slight variation on the version we're all used to hearing, and his interpretation of "The Schmuel Song" is downright fantastic. He also shines with a fierce anger and pain in "If I Didn't Believe in You" and with beautiful wonder in "The Next Ten Minutes." If it looks like I've almost listed the entire soundtrack here, well, I have. The only moment that had me worried was, actually, the very first one ("Still Hurting"). On a second viewing it does work, and the understated tone of it propels nicely with the busyness of the second scene, but it is VERY STILL and quiet. If, as a fan of the show, you feel a queasy moment, have no fear. It all turns out heartbreakingly brilliant.
Director Richard LaGravenese steps up to the plate in a big way here. His direction is strong, his use of New York local haunts are great, and most importantly he trusts JRB's music to tell the tale. There are moments of added dialogue here and there, and I'm happy to report that every moment helps the film (and cameos from past The Last Five Years actors like Sherie Rene Scott and Betsy Wolfe are wonderful Easter eggs). There is no padding. The film zips and through a truly wonderful and heartbreaking story. It may not be the perfect "romantic" idea of a Valentine's Day, but it is a great example of two people who did truly love each other and just couldn't ever make it work. If only, looking back onto our lives, we could make such beautiful music.
MATEO'S GRADE: A
Music & Lyrics by Jason Robert Brown Adapted for the Screen and Directed by Richard LaGravenese, based on the stage musical by Jason Robert Brown
Starring Anna Kendrick, Jeremy Jordan
RATED: PG-13 CONTENT ADVISORY Adult Situations, Language
FINAL THOUGHTS: Fans of the show, you can now breathe: it's very good. All others, be prepared for an emotional journey, but it's a cathartic and beautiful one. The Last Five Years is most definitely a heartbreak you want to have.
MATEO MORENO recently won a bet on who could hold their breath the longest underwater. He won the bet, having beat local loudmouth Jimmy "Thunderbird" Thomas with a record breaking "fourteen minutes." True, part of that time was him unconcious and the other part was him being revived, but he still counts it, and is now $20 richer. Take THAT Thunderbird! He currently lives in Brooklyn, New York.