10 Years

Starring: Channing Tatum, Rosario Dawson, Justin Long, Max Minghella, Jenna Dewan-Tatum, Oscar Isaac, Chris Pratt, Kate Mara, Aubrey Plaza, Anthony Mackie, Ron Livingston, Lynn Collins, Brian Geraghty, Ari Graynor, Scott Porter, Aaron Yoo
Directed by: Jamie Linden
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance
2012
Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A group of friends reunite for their 10 year high school reunion and discover all the ways they have- and haven't- changed.

Review:

Tim: I think it's fair to say that I wasn't overly enthusiastic about watching 10 Years. It's not that I thought it looked bad, I just knew absolutely nothing about the film. It made only $200,000 in theaters, and completely escaped my (and many others') radar. I have no idea why this happened, as 10 Years is actually a very enjoyable film. It is well made, features great characters, a truly impressive cast, and overall, was quite a good movie. I was surprised by how much I liked this little film.

The biggest attraction of the film is undoubtedly the cast. I was pleasantly surprised by what an impressive cast was assembled for this film. Channing Tatum is probably in the lead role. Again, he's not a great actor, but he was convincing here. I thought he gave a mostly good performance. I do wish the guy was just better at acting. Rosario Dawson was a nice addition to the cast. I feel like it's been a while since I saw her in a new film, and she was strong here. She embodied that popular but nice person from high school.

The rest of the cast is strong, too. I really liked seeing Justin Long and Max Minghella interacting together. Their story started off decent, but ended with one of the most touching moments of the whole film. I loved how their story intersected with Lynn Collins, and the conclusion of that was pretty amazing. Oscar Isaac and Kate Mara had perhaps my favorite storyline of the entire film. At first, I didn't know if I would believe that Isaac was this big hit musician. For a film that was rooted in reality (much of the film's power comes from being a story we can all identify with), it felt odd to have a famous musician be in the class. However, as the story went on, I completely believed it. It culminated in Isaac singing "Never Had", which was my absolute favorite moment of the entire film. It was a beautiful, poignant, touching scene. Mara was terrific in that scene, and it wowed me.

I really don't get the appeal of Chris Pratt, and he just annoyed me here. I know many people think he's funny, but he just gets on my nerves. I thought he was mostly unfunny (although singing "The Asian in Beige" was hilarious) and needed to have less screen time. I also don't think Jenna Dewan-Tatum is a real actress, and I wish she had not been in the film. She completely underwhelmed me. Aubrey Plaza was pretty good. I like Anthony Mackie, but it felt like he wasn't used properly. I wanted to get more time with his character. I also really like Ron Livingston, but his part was too small for my liking. I wish he had more to do.

The amazing thing about this movie is how it is so relatable. To anyone who's been out of high school for ten years or longer, it should be incredibly easy to identify with this film. It's such a strange, crazy experience to see people you went to high school with a decade later. People have changed, in some good ways, others in bad ones. It feels like you are surrounded by ghosts, or of strange variations of people you used to know. It's an exciting, depressing, crazy experience that makes you feel hopeful, nostalgic, proud, and embarrassed, all at the same time. This movie does a tremendous job of encapsulating those feelings.

While that is all quite good, this is obviously the work a guy making his directorial debut. I'm not trying to criticize Jamie Linden, because this is an impressive first film, and I'm really interested to see what he does next. However, the guy is obviously inexperienced, and that shows up in the film. There's a few pacing issues, and not all the stories are told as effectively as they could have been. I felt like some characters were incredibly under-utilized, whereas someone like Tatum has too much screen time. I do have lots of small, nitpicky faults with this film. But, I do want to say this- for a first time director, who also wrote this film (which was only his third screenplay) to create a scene as beautiful as the "Never Had" scene is remarkable. Once Linden gets more experience under his belt, I suspect the guy will be a force in Hollywood.

10 Years isn't a great movie, but it is a thoroughly enjoyable dramedy. The high school reunion theme isn't new, but it felt fresh and entertaining here. The characters were well developed, and relatable to people everyone went to high school with. I did not expect much from this film, but it is a highly impressive debut film from director Jamie Linden. This is a solid film.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 7



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