Two romantic burnouts, Jane and Will, are immediately drawn to each other at a mutual friend’s wedding. After a disastrous hookup in the coatroom, the two spend the next 24 hours together, tradin...
How did that old Naked Brothers Band song go? “I don’t want you to get involved again, but I want you to join me in my quest again. Conflict with my life is the beginning”. Nat Wolff gets to live out those lyrics once again this time with Lucy Hale in “Which Brings Me to You”……
….which I almost rented on YouTube. Thankfully, it cost less on Amazon and what I was rewarded with was a pretty ok watch.
The quality of Pete Hutchings’ direction can best be described as quasi-candid in theory; while the general trajectory of where he takes the film is dappled and pretty heatless, you can tell it isn’t entirely artless. Some vestiges of heart are present.
It sticks closely to and abides the rules of simple but effective visual storytelling based on how decent its shot and how crisp it’s edited; plus, the visual aesthetic has this very warmth atmospheric clarity that elevates the perfunctory natural lighting to where even if it gets a bit hazy, it’s never suffocating. Production design-wise, it never carried that same weight from each location onwards; none of it felt like window dressing thankfully but they just illustrated places in time for the characters to be in and that’s about it. So much of it felt….very enclosed.
Very few distinct OST from the score stood out to me (specifically one at the very end), although it’s use of needle drops are particularly bland and inoffensive outside that weird mini-musical interlude they cram in. I can’t say much on the costumes, cause they look decent on their own…..but I can say a little bit on the acting, I couldn’t help but feel a bit let down by that. Everyone is ok, let’s not get it twisted, but Lucy Hale and Nat Wolff’s chemistry was a little inconsistent, petering in and out depending on the scene.
The thing about these romantic comedies is despite the cavalcade of avenues they take to try and spice things up, they mostly end one of two ways. And while it does end the way you think it does, the roadmap it uses to get there is definitely interesting. It has the blueprints of a romcom but the protracted nature of its execution reveals itself as an elongated therapy session but one where its breezy pacing doesn’t drag the experiment out longer than it needs to. Contrary to what other reviews have been saying, I don’t think the gimmick of this film mucks with its tone or pacing but I do agree that, unlike Rye Lane or…..God of War: Ragnarok’s Valhalla DLC, this film’s premise gradually loses its luster and gets thinner and thinner before we get to the end.
Jane and Will, as characters, as individuals and the way they related to each others shortcomings highlighted the best part of the movie for me. We all suffer the fear of rejection, of being unable and afraid of sharing the most horrendous, nasty sides of ourselves, and the way they connected and sympathized with one another is definitely hopeful in the way people can come to terms with one's own unruly imperfections and strive to be better, more mindful of sticky situations. It does suck that the chemistry dampens a little when we move from scene to scene though and upon closer inspection, Wolff’s character is more actively present for his relationships failing than Hale’s and it doesn’t exactly paint the best picture for them as a potential couple since they keep making the same mistakes.
Even if that was meant to be the point, it’s that very execution that sort invalidates Will and Jane from being interesting characters on their own and for a rom-com, where the characters and story take center stage to everything else, it’s kinda important to keep the ‘How’ of the ‘Will they/Won’t they’ dynamic interesting along the way. From how it’s designed, not including some type of epistolary format to the proceedings meant very little heat resonates, leading some potential questions having to be rushed or discarded entirely, especially with the climax of the film coming in hot around the TEN MINUTE MARK, leaving very little time for maneuverability.
This movie feels like one of those experiments that work better on the page or in your head than they do on a screen somewhere. For what the execution provided, it was still a nice way to distract myself for an hour and a half while offering some optional insight on my long-distance relationship.
