It Ends with Us

Starring: Blake Lively, Justin Baldoni, Jenny Slate, Brandon Sklenar, Hasan Minhaj, Kevin McKidd, Amy Morton, Alex Neustaedter, Isabela Ferrer
Directed by: Justin Baldoni
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Drama, Romance
2024

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A woman (Blake Lively) tries to put her past with an abusive father (Kevin McKidd) behind her, starting a new relationship with a neurosurgeon (Justin Baldoni). When her first love (Brandon Sklenar) shows up, it throws her life and relationship into turmoil.

Review:

Tim: It feels awful and regrettable that I have to start my review of this film talking about the behind-the-scenes drama surrounding It Ends with Us. I'm not especially interested, but that drama has taken up more space and focus than the movie itself. I've read a little about it, and I don't know what to think. I'm not entirely sure there are any truly innocent parties, but I do know that the lawsuit bringing in Deadpool & Wolverine is an example of the stupidity of the whole thing. I feel no sympathy for Justin Baldoni, but I've also never been a fan of Blake Lively. Their drama and allegations overshadow this movie. Part of the reason that's possible is that the movie isn't good. It's decent- absolutely- and it has some great moments in it. But, as a whole, it feels like another lackluster production that's never as good as it could have been.

I was a little surprised by this. I don't know much about Justin Baldoni, but I liked his direction of Five Feet Apart- that could have been a similarly forgettable movie, but it made it work. That was a good film. shares some qualities, but it never really comes together in the same way. Maybe the fighting and drama and interference behind-the-scenes impacted the overall quality- that would not be a surprise. But, big picture, I thought this was a decent film, with many flaws, but also a good number of redeeming qualities as well. It's not a film I hated watching, but I have zero desire to ever revisit it again.

I do think author Colleen Hoover wrote an effective story. There's a lot of depth here- the story is about a women who had a traumatic childhood. It might not be as extreme as some, but seeing your father routinely beat your mother and hospitalizing a boyfriend is horrendous. This woman has a lot of baggage, but she's worked hard to build a new life for herself. Into her life comes the perfect man- a brilliant, handsome neurosurgeon who connects with her and feels like the missing piece. As the film goes on, though, cracks start to appear in that perfect facade. This is accelerated when her first love (the hospitalized boyfriend) reconnects with her. Now, we have a love triangle. This is all fairly intriguing and Baldoni the director does a decent job of setting up the events and getting us interested. The story in this one is actually one of the stronger aspects (not something I usually say for decent films).

I definitely had issues with the cast. Like I said, I know very little of Baldoni, except what I've read briefly and the one movie of his I watched. I have to say, I disliked his performance. Some of this might be intentional in how he portrayed this character, but I never liked him- not even in the early scenes when he seems perfect. There is just something about how he holds himself, how he delivers his lines that I felt overconfident and unlikable. His performance as a whole is decent, but inwardly sighed whenever he was on screen. It felt like he is an actor that's all surface level- coasting on his looks, without real depth or understanding to his character. I'm not sure he understood Ryle at any kind of deep level. He seemed to always be acting. His performance isn't authentic or lived in. I disliked him immensely.

The problem is, I also don't like Blake Lively. I know she and husband Ryan Reynolds are a power couple right now, but I've never seen the appeal of her. I do not believe she's a good actress. I thought she was decent here, giving one of her better performances, but it still left so much to be desired. I didn't believe that she understood her character, either. She doesn't show us that she understands trauma, or the inner strength it takes to push past that. Like Baldoni, she seems to be acting in every scene. It's not much fun to watch her for over 2 hours (2:10 is stupid long for this movie, too).

Now, contrast this with Brandon Sklenar, who seems comfortable in his own skin. His performance is subtly charismatic and he has warmth and understanding of his character. The movie is significantly better when he shows up. To further illustrate my point, I thought Isabela Ferrer was substantially better as Lily Bloom than Lively. I also thought Neustaedter was wonderful as the young Atlas. These actors felt like they dug inside themselves for their performances. The characters felt believable, lived in. Baldoni and Lively don't accomplish that. This might be the only film I can think of where I loved the flashback, younger character scenes more than the current day ones. Do you see how rare that is? Usually, it's subpar actors aping their more famous, older counterparts and it's torture to sit through. The scenes with young Lily and Atlas weren't just good- they were often incredible. I give Ferrer and Neustaedter immense credit. This movie would have been better with them as the leads. That's wild to me, but how I feel.

Jenny Slate and Hasan Minhaj were both good and I enjoyed them in their small roles. I was so excited to see Kevin McKidd cast here, but he's given a minuscule role. It feels so hard to rate the overall cast, because all the supporting characters were substantially better than the leads (except for Sklenar, who has the smallest role of the big three).

I do want to give Baldoni some credit for how he approached Hoover's concept of physical abuse with the film. Those scenes were chilling, horrifying, unforgettable. I thought they were brilliantly filmed and with just enough ambiguity that you were left wondering. That's what I appreciated most about this movie- physical and emotional abuse happens all over the world, in heartbreaking numbers. So many, countless women have suffered in abusive relationships. We don't see that depicted on screen. It's awful, hateful to witness those sequences. The final straw scene is so tough to watch that I was squirming and looking away. My brain didn't want to confront that terrible reality. Those scenes aren't fun, but they are expertly crafted. That's positive, but it's also frustrating to see that and recognize that Hoover's novel should have been a really good film. The pieces were all here, Baldoni actually executes on many of them. But, it was likely the relationship dynamics between he and Lively, whatever went down between them that sinks this film.

And so, that's what we are left with. It Ends with Us should have been a powerful meditation on abusive relationships the likes of which we haven't seen before. Instead, it's a decent film mired in controversy, with a lot of flaws that undermine the film's effectiveness. I still think this is a decent film, but it easily could have been much better.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 6.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Five Feet Apart, The Rhythm Section, Cafe Society