Somebody I Used to Know
Alison Brie proves suitably inscrutable as a TV exec, a part she co-wrote herself in a comedy that treads water for too much of its running time.
Knowing them: Jay Ellis and Alison Brie
It’s an interesting title. It could just as easily refer to the film’s protagonist, Ally (Alison Brie), as to the somebody she was once involved with. But does Ally even know who she is now? The creator and presenter of a hit reality food show called Dessert Island, Ally is thrown off guard when the fourth series is cancelled because of low ratings. So, at a loose end, she heads back to the place she used to know and to the mother (Julie Hagerty) she has all but abandoned. But the past has a way of shifting its sands, and Mom is now enjoying a comprehensive sex life, and Ally’s old beau Sean (Jay Ellis) is engaged to another woman, although it’s a detail he fails to mention. So She and He spend the night talking about the old days and She remembers why she loved this guy so much. But her career ambition – to make documentaries in Los Angeles – got in the way of her love life and she became a success instead, albeit with some artistic compromise.
On screen, Ally has learned to manipulate her star guests and it has become her MO in her private life as well. Ally is not a sympathetic character, even though she is the star of her own story, scripted by Alison Brie herself in collaboration with her husband, Dave Franco, who also directs. Initially, there is an air of the gross-out romcom about the film until Ally returns home to the “real world” and the real people she left behind. Sean obviously still holds a candle, but Ally is brandishing a blow torch, forgetting why they broke up in the first place. Suddenly Somebody I Used to Know is a different movie and could switch into thriller mode or romantic comedy at the drop of an F bomb. Sean’s intended, Cassie (the admirable Kiersey Clemons), seems as movie savvy as the next character and hopes Ally isn’t going to pull some “Julia Roberts My Best Friend’s Wedding type shit.” Good point. An old friend, Jeremy (Haley Joel Osment) references Brendan Fraser (“a blast from the past!”) and Jeremy Renner (“he’s available”), both comments which now seem misplaced. But everybody’s been following Ally’s show, even if Sean’s father seems to think it’s all about sex. Ally is a star, although her motives are far from stellar.
Alison Brie is a fine comic actress and Somebody I Used to Know is an excellent showcase for her talents. And when the movie switches from sitcom mode in LA to something more plausible in Leavenworth, Washington state, the film slows from a sprint to an amble. One’s not entirely sure who one should root for, although Ally’s self-interest is despicable, however an attractive package it’s dressed up in. Jay Ellis is excellent as the all-round nice guy knocked off balance, while Kiersey Clemons grounds the film as the “spontaneous, artistic and beautiful” Cassie who is sacrificing her own career (as a singer) for Sean. There are a handful of telling moments, but there’s a slow-burn temper that doesn’t really ignite until it’s rather too late in the game.
JAMES CAMERON-WILSON
Cast: Alison Brie, Jay Ellis, Kiersey Clemons, Danny Pudi, Haley Joel Osment, Ayden Mayeri, Amy Sedaris, Sam Richardson, Zoë Chao, Kelvin Yu, Evan Jonigkeit, Julie Hagerty, Olga Merediz, Ted Rooney, Erika Vetter, Gouda (the cat).
Dir Dave Franco, Pro Marty Bowen, Wyck Godfrey, Isaac Klausner, Ben Stillman, Leigh Kittay and Michael Heimler, Screenplay Dave Franco and Alison Brie, Ph Brian Lannin, Pro Des Brandon Tonner-Connolly, Ed Ernie Gilbert, Music Danny Bensi and Saunder Jurriaans, Costumes Amanda Needham.
Amazon Studios/Black Bear Pictures/Temple Hill Entertainment-Amazon Media.
105 mins. USA. 2022. UK and US Rel: 10 February 2023. Cert. 15.
