This more serious than funny rom com about a love triangle took some time before finding its pace and voice. It starts slowly, languishes in the middle, but redeems itself with surprise by the end. Brie co-wrote the script with director and husband, Dave Franco known for acting (The Disaster Artist, The Afterparty, 22 Jump Street.) and for directing the 2020 thriller, The Rental.
Alison Brie (Promising Young Woman, TV’s GLOW) is an accomplished actress who looks great and is confident on camera. She has no problem revealing herself emotionally as well as physically. Brie likes to be naked and even streaks in this film. Watch our interview to hear her explain why she’s so comfortable with nudity, and how she and Dave work together.
Her character, Ally, is a small town girl from around Seattle. She just couldn’t wait to get out of Leavenworth, not the prison, but her hometown. She left the love of her life behind, wanting to set the world on fire doing something important. But Ally got sidetracked by money and the chance for notoriety as the producer and star of an vapid TV reality show. When ratings dip, she runs back home to reconnect with her roots and her weird mother. We never find out why she has such distant and strained relationship with her childlike Mom (Julie Hagerty- A Christmas Story Christmas, Marriage Story) who is preoccupied getting laid every chance she gets with her boyfriend.
Ally flees into the quaint town and bumps into her ex, Sean (Jay Ellis – Top Gum: Maverick) who is a handsome hunk. He’s a charming Black man who obviously was hurt when she left, and glad to see her, but noticeably uncomfortable. And he’s not very forthcoming about what he’s been up to since she’s been gone. Ally unexpectedly shows up at Sean’s home and his Mom spills the beans that he’s about to get married to Cassidy (Kiersey Clemons), insisting that Ally, TV producer and star, shoot the video of the festivities. Ellis, as Sean comes across as sort of a wish-washy wimp, but sees the error of his ways by the end in what appears to be a female empowerment moment. Sean finally sees the light about women being able to follow their own career paths like men.
There are some twists and turns regarding self-identity, and Ally, inadvertently helps Cassidy, as well as herself, define whether love is enough. Is Cassidy the someone Ally used to know? While they are competing for Sean’s affections, Ally shows she has skin in the game with obviously sexy costuming. We think wardrobe could have done a better job without making her look trashy.
Supporting characters include Danny Pudi who is well cast as Sean’s best friend and a sounding board for Ally. Playing his part with understated humor makes him the most likable of the bunch. We haven’t seen Haley Joel Osment in awhile and here he plays Sean’s brother and family man trying for laughs with the most comedic schtick on the dance floor which comes out of nowhere.
Franco lets the actors do the heavy lifting focusing focused mostly on their faces. His direction is pretty straight forward, following the actors without any fancy shots. But it was Brie’s idea to do a cartwheel in the streaking shot across the golf course with Cassidy they threw in surprising fun to break up this script about serious relationships. Brie and Franco’s script almost lost us in the second act, but stick with it to see Brie’s character become someone she not only used to know, but someone you might like to know.
Prime Video 1 hour 46 minutes. R
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