Plot: What’s it about?
I don’t read as much as I used to. I don’t think many of us do. In this age where we’ve got the world at our fingertips, it seems that watching a YouTube video or some other distraction have taken the place of the time-honored tradition of “sitting down with a good book.” But authors are still out there, doing their thing and it serves as fodder for major motion pictures. Case in point…here we are. Based on Colleen Hoover’s 2019 novel of the same name, it’s taken a few years for this to hit the screen and, perhaps it should have taken a few more. Fans of the book will likely be (and were) disappointed at this adaptation. The cast is competent, but things just have a way of not getting off the ground. That’s your pep talk – let’s get started.
I’ll preface this by saying that there’s a lot going on here. And I mean that in the most literal way. Morgan (Allison Williams) has just lost her husband (Scott Eastwood) and her sister, Jenny (Willa Fitzgerald) in a car accident. What she didn’t know was that they’d been having an affair which was also news to Jenny’s husband, Jonah (Dave Franco) who’s seemingly had a thing for Morgan for quite some time. These “dual deaths” impact others including Clara (Mckenna Grace), Morgan’s daughter, who’s trying to win the heart of “the coolest guy in school”, Miller (Mason Thames). And Morgan, being the over-protective type, doesn’t inform her about her father’s affair nor her romance with Jonah. There’s also some back and forth with Clara and Morgan and boys. Confused yet?
I’m sure I’ll mention this below in the conclusion, but I’ll be the first to admit that it must be frustrating when you’re anticipating a movie of a good book. This is one that let audiences down as it plays out like a soap opera. Things are resolved, but at the end when it’s time to wrap things up which leads to a frustrating movie-watching experience. I will say that the cast is great, they play their parts well and there’s really not a weak link in the bunch, but something was clearly lost in translation from Hoover’s novel to Josh Boone’s film. Love and loss are two things in life that we’ll all experience, however the way it’s approached here makes it seem somewhat passing. And I didn’t care for that. I’d say stick with the book as this one feels like a Hallmark movie gone awry – and that’s a difficult task to pull off.
Video: How’s it look?
This is one of those films that reminds of me of a soap opera – that takes place at night. All the interior shots are perfectly lit with nice, warm earthy-tones hues, all the outfits are nice, pressed and look like they cost a million bucks and so on. I think two examples is sufficient. Granted, this is a new film and new to the format, but it almost seems a bit too perfect (and this isn’t from an image quality perspective). Detail is fine, I mean the cast isn’t exactly bad-looking, contrast is up to par and black levels are right on the money. From that standpoint, this checks all the boxes.
Audio: How’s it sound?
The included DTS HD Master Audio mix isn’t one that’s too memorable, but it does get the job done. Vocals are pitch perfect, surrounds offer a bit of warm ambiance, though the front stage gets the lion’s share of the action. Even by looking at the production stills, you get the feeling that there’s a lot of acoustic guitar overlays (I’ll keep you in suspense and let you find out the hard way). Again, like the video presentation – this delivers.
Supplements: What are the extras?
- Adapting You – A behind the scenes look as the cast and crew dive into Colleen Hoover’s novel.
- Love in Loss – A few of the more notable names of the cast embrace the empowerment of love in the face of loss.
- A Life Without Regret – We learn of the cast and crew’s personal relationships with regret in this bonus featurette.
- Promposal – The cast and crew as they reminisce on promposals.
- Line-O-Rama: Morgan – Hilarious outtakes of Morgan scolding Miller.
- Deleted Scenes – Several are included, but none that really added any substance to the film. Hence their deletion.
The Bottom Line
Good books don’t always make good films and, well, this a prime example. Nevertheless, Paramount’s disc looks and sounds nice and offers a nice array of supplements, superficial though they may be, for any true fans out there.
