Anna Kendrick and Jeremy Jordan do the best they can with this film. It's not a bad film per se, but it jumps around a lot in the story which can make it hard to follow at times. I get why they did it. To show contrast between the high points in their relationship vs the low points. However, as I said it isn't always easy to follow, plus some of them don't make sense. For example in one song "Summer in Ohio" (at least I think that was the name) its revealed at the end that she's engaged. And the next scene/song, is the proposal. Why not have that song before Summer in Ohio then? Whats the purpose of having it backwards like that?
The other thing that majorly bugged me was RIGHT AFTER the wedding, there is a song about how Jamie (Jeremy Jordan) is tempted to cheat with all these women. And it just doesn't make sense to me. I would buy it more if we had seen him previously in the relationship as a guy with a wondering eye, OR if the song was sung later in the movie (like when their relationship was crumbling more). It just seems out of nowhere for his character, especially since in the previous scene they were married and he was singing a sweet song.
The ending also seemed abrupt to me. I have never seen the stage musical so I had no idea how its supposed to end, but I was kind of expecting more. Like maybe it would with Kathy (Anna Kendrick) finding the note Jamie left. Or it would end where it began. Coming Full circle. Instead it just ends with her walking up to the door. Like, I can't even be sure if that scene is in the present tense or if its just before she finds out he left. Like, it just ends with her walking up to her door and the title comes up on screen and it starts rolling credits. I sat there and thought "Wait, it's over?". No closure in my opinion.
That being said, Anna and Jeremy were the highlights of this film. They both acted well and both have great singing voices. I did like a number of the songs (the first one sticks out in my mind), and there were some funny moments. Like Kathy's audition song where she takes a jab at Russell Crowe for being in a musical. I thought it was an enjoyable movie for the most part. I think most of the issues are with the musical itself and not really the movie. I decided to give the movie a 7 because 6 just seemed TOO low, but it definitely doesn't deserve anything higher.
One last thing I thought I would mention, this film has a lot of singing. Yes, I know it's a musical. What I mean is that there isn't a ton of dialogue. The movie is like 98% singing. Now, that doesn't bother me, but I know there are people out there who don't care for every piece of dialogue sung.
The other thing that majorly bugged me was RIGHT AFTER the wedding, there is a song about how Jamie (Jeremy Jordan) is tempted to cheat with all these women. And it just doesn't make sense to me. I would buy it more if we had seen him previously in the relationship as a guy with a wondering eye, OR if the song was sung later in the movie (like when their relationship was crumbling more). It just seems out of nowhere for his character, especially since in the previous scene they were married and he was singing a sweet song.
The ending also seemed abrupt to me. I have never seen the stage musical so I had no idea how its supposed to end, but I was kind of expecting more. Like maybe it would with Kathy (Anna Kendrick) finding the note Jamie left. Or it would end where it began. Coming Full circle. Instead it just ends with her walking up to the door. Like, I can't even be sure if that scene is in the present tense or if its just before she finds out he left. Like, it just ends with her walking up to her door and the title comes up on screen and it starts rolling credits. I sat there and thought "Wait, it's over?". No closure in my opinion.
That being said, Anna and Jeremy were the highlights of this film. They both acted well and both have great singing voices. I did like a number of the songs (the first one sticks out in my mind), and there were some funny moments. Like Kathy's audition song where she takes a jab at Russell Crowe for being in a musical. I thought it was an enjoyable movie for the most part. I think most of the issues are with the musical itself and not really the movie. I decided to give the movie a 7 because 6 just seemed TOO low, but it definitely doesn't deserve anything higher.
One last thing I thought I would mention, this film has a lot of singing. Yes, I know it's a musical. What I mean is that there isn't a ton of dialogue. The movie is like 98% singing. Now, that doesn't bother me, but I know there are people out there who don't care for every piece of dialogue sung.