IT ENDS WITH US (2024) - Movie Review

Director: Justin Baldoni
Starring: Blake Lively, Justin Baldoni, Jenny Slate, Hasan Minhaj, Brandon Sklenar, Kevin McKidd, Amy Morton, Isabela Ferrer
Genre: Drama, Romance
Writer: Christy Hall
Runtime: 130 min
Rated: PG-13 for domestic violence, sexual content and some strong language
Buy This Movie: Blu-ray (Amazon), DVD (Amazon), Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV

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Synopsis:

Though coming from a complicated past, Lily Bloom has always known the life she wants. While living in Boston, she meets neurosurgeon Ryle Kincaid and believes she may very well have found her soul mate. Soon, however, questions arise about their relationship, and to complicate matters her high school love interest, Atlas Corrigan, comes back into the picture, putting her relationship with Ryle in jeopardy.

Review:

"It Ends With Us" stormed the worldwide box-office this year, raking in a ton of money, even giving "Deadpool & Wolverine" a run for its money. The film is based on the 2016 best-selling novel by Colleen Hoover, which became an even bigger success thanks to TikTok. I haven't read the book, so I can't speak to the movie's faithfulness to the source material, but what I can say is that the big screen adaptation is exactly what you'd expect: an average sappy melodrama.

The protagonist of this romantic drama is Lily Bloom (Blake Lively), a woman dealing with a traumatic past who falls in love with a dashing neurosurgeon (Justin Baldoni) only to discover a darker side to him that makes her question their relationship. Complications further arise when Lily's first love (Brandon Sklenar) enters the picture. The casting of Lively and Baldoni sparked some backlash because the actors are much older (37 and 40 respectively) than the novel's characters (23 and 30). The reason for that is the author was trying to write a book for the YA crowd but didn't realize that it takes a long time to become a neurosurgeon. I'm not sure how to feel about an author who doesn't do proper research, but I suppose since it's basically YA romantic fantasy, realism isn't necessarily something you should expect.

Even though they "fixed" the age issue, the clunky dialogue mostly sounds like teenagers pretending to be adults. The biggest problem is that the movie doesn't feel set in the real world. It's a glossy alternate reality filled with gorgeous people and trendy fashion statements, so when the story tries to veer into serious territory with themes pertaining to trauma and domestic abuse, it doesn't feel sincere. The best I can say about it is that the movie knows exactly what it is and leans unapologetically hard into the melodrama.

The cast for the most part is okay. No Oscar-worthy performances here, but honestly not as bad as I expected, either. The leads have sufficient chemistry if you mute the dialogues, and I enjoyed Jenny Slate's brief, but charming contribution. I was also impressed by newcomer Isabela Ferrer, a dead ringer for Lively who plays the teenage version of Lily Bloom in flashbacks. When she first appeared it took me a second to realize it wasn't Lively on screen.

"It Ends With Us" occasionally feels like a Blake Lively vanity project but it is reasonably watchable. It's about as deep and realistic as a Lifetime movie, but still competently put together without being groundbreaking or original. It's a movie strictly for fans of the book, or anyone who enjoys an unpretentious tear-jerker.

SCORE: 6/10