Our deal on Sunday mornings is to take turns picking a movie. My bride was up this week and chose IT ENDS WITH US. I went in thinking "basic chick flick" and while I suspect anyone searching for that genre will not be disappointed, it deserves more than that generic moniker.
First of all, Blake Lively is terrific, far exceeding my expectations generated by previous films like "The Shallows" and "The Rhythm Section". She's believable, thoughtful and connected as Lily Bloom.
As the film opens, she's returned home to console her mother Peggy, played by Amy Morton. It's the second scene in the movie and they already had my attention, mostly because I'll never forget the 7 hours that I spent watching Morton on Broadway as the original Barbara in "August Osage County". I saw the three and a half hour play twice in three months, and remember Morton vividly tearing up the stage. She's an incredibly talented powerhouse.
As Peggy, she's critical of her daughter's career before we even know what it is. Peggy seems damaged. After the funeral, Amy returns to Boston, finds a quiet rooftop of a stunning condo building to hide on and cry.
The rooftop door bursts open and she meets Ryle Kincaid. Justin Baldoni not only plays Ryle, but he also directed the film as well. Their ten minutes together on that roof establishes a bond and a possible road worth traveling. It's a clever introduction, or what Roger Ebert dubbed a "meet cute". The scene packs in a wild range of emotions in one interaction. But there's much more to that sequence that you know, layers of which continue to cleverly peel back for the rest of the film.
Lily buys a vacant storefront and goes to work creating her flower shop.
Neighborhood resident Alyssa (a terrific Jenny Slate from "On the Rocks" and SNL) drops into the shop and she and Lily bond.
The film has plenty of surprises and I wont reveal any of them here, but I bet almost everyone in the theater had read the global bestseller by Colleen Hoover on which the film was based.
I enjoyed the fact that every time I was ready to smugly assume where the story I was going, I was wrong.
The relationships of families, the legacy of generations within a family, desperate attempts to fix past wrongs and the fragility of love and loss are all explored.
It's very tricky to present flashbacks to inform the present, but Baldoni and his screenwriter Christy Hall have structured an elaborate, intertwined drama.
We meet teenage Lily and young Atlas, the homeless boy who's squatting in the vacant house next door. We watch how kindness ripples out over the decades ahead before coming back when it's most needed.
Alex Neustadter is very good as teenage Atlas and Brandon Sklenar (The Offer, Midway, HBO's Westworld) is terrific as Atlas all grown up, who also happens to live in Boston. Isabela Ferrer is an uncanny match for Lively as teenage Lily. She feels authentic in every moment of the role. I never felt "forced" to watch one timeline over the other, it flows so well.
Watching ALL these lives intertwine, the older Lily and Ryle date among the upper echelon of Boston's wealthy and old friends reunite drives one hell of a story. When it takes a moment to teeter on the edge of decisions that will affect many lives, it's earned its power.
Lively is a quiet powerhouse in the final 15 minutes.
IT ENDS WITH US is the story of a woman finding herself, rising above and taking control. It's also a massive hit for Lively as both actress and producer, elevating her to the A list and nearly knocking her husband Ryan Reynolds blockbuster "Deadpool & Wolverine" out of the number one spot at the box office with an opening $50 million weekend.
If you're like me and not one of the many millions who read the book, it's an impressive drama that will keep you guessing.
The film adaption earns a very solid B.
Has there ever been a more aptly titled theme song than Lewis Capaldi's "Love the Hell Out of You"?
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