I Want You Back
Slate and Day are a sweet enough couple to root for until the confection gives way to convention.
When Charlie met Jenny
Break-ups often bring about bizarre behavior. There’s a sort of grief in the sudden and unexpected loss of a lover. Memories of the time you shared turn bittersweet and that immediate void feels impossible to fill. It’s a strange phenomena that can lead to obsession. Through rose-tinted glasses that person becomes the ideal soulmate, the one that got away. I Want You Back takes the lovelorn experience and plays it for laughs.
Orthodontist receptionist Emma (Jenny Slate) and retirement home executive Peter (Charlie Day) meet cute crying in the office building stairwell. Dumped by their long term partners, they find themselves unable to move on. During a karaoke pity party, they make a pact to tackle any temptation to text their ex, vowing to become each other’s ‘Sleepless in Seattle’ – or in this case awake in Atlanta. When exes Noah (Scott Eastwood) and Anne (Gina Rodriguez) begin plastering newfound romance all over social media, Emma and Peter begin plotting dangerous liaisons, with the cruel intention of breaking up their former lovers’ new relationships.
The Insta story opening credits are an amusing modern exploration of post-relationship woes, with Durante’s ‘Glory of Love’ checking the prescribed classic song box. There are some legitimate LOLs in the first half of the film, which makes excellent comedic use of cuts. There’s even a show-stopping middle school performance of ‘Suddenly, Seymour’ before the romcom shenanigans set in. Writing duo Isaac Aptaker and Elizabeth Berger (of Love, Simon fame) make a strong initial attempt to go against the grain of the genre. For instance none of the characters have lavish Manhattan apartments, afforded by their careers as architects and fashion magazine editors. There’s no morning-after scene played out in a dress shirt. No handwritten signs or boomboxes are thrust into the air. Yet halfway through, the siren song of the romcom steers everything off course. It’s unfortunate given the chemistry and comedic capacity of Slate and Day. Most of the third act is frankly excess baggage and the end is a crash-landing that can be seen miles away.
CHAD KENNERK
Cast: Charlie Day, Jenny Slate, Gina Rodriguez, Scott Eastwood, Manny Jacinto, Mason Gooding, Clark Backo, Giselle Torres, Isabel May, Pete Davidson, Claudia Rocafort, Lauren Halperin, Jami Gertz.
Dir Jason Orley, Pro Peter Safran, John Rickard, Isaac Aptaker and Elizabeth Berger, Screenplay Isaac Aptaker and Elizabeth Berger, Ph Brian Burgoyne, Pro Des Michael Perry, Ed Jonathan Schwartz, Music Siddhartha Khosla, Costumes Samantha Hawkins.
Amazon Studios/The Safran Company/The Walk-Up Company-Amazon Prime.
111 mins. USA. 2022. US Internet Rel: 11 February 2022. Cert. R.
