The Last Five Years

So this is a pretty big departure from the other movies that I have reviewed recently (Deadpool, Kill Bill, etc) , but I did feel like I needed to review something of a love story as it is Valentines Day.

I had heard about The Last Five Years when it came out in theaters and I actually really wanted to see it. I don't know exactly when it was but I think I had the memory of Into The Woods in my mind and when I heard it was a independent musical film... starring Anna Kendrick, I was in.

However I did not see it in theaters and kind of forgot about it until last night when I saw it on Netflix. Again, its Valentines Day, let's review a love story.

The Last Five Years is based on a musical of the same name. It follows the story of Cathy (played by Anna Kendrick) and Jamie (played by Jeremie Jordan), Cathy is a struggling actress in New York and Jamie is an up and coming writer.

If you're a fan of theater, you know that this is a textbook set up for any thespian. Every writer or actor sees themselves in this set up, hell I know people in this situation. I'm not saying anything against it, its just funny how manufactured this situation seems and how off-broadway this narrative is.

The thing that makes this story different is the format in which it is done.

The story takes place over a 5 year relationship between these two. It is taken from both the perspectives of Jamie and Cathy but from different ends of the relationship. Cathy's perspective starts at the end of the relationship while Jamie's starts from the beginning.

And of course, 98% of it is sung.

Now I don't claim to have a huge background in musical theater, however, I do feel like I know a little bit about it and because of that, the entire plot being sung is not a huge deal for me.

But if people had a problem with a big budget film like Les Mis being 100% sung, they're going to have an issue with The Last Five Years being 98% sung.

The other interesting part about the format is that the movie really only focuses on the two main characters. There are a few other characters in the film but they barely talk and they have very limited contribution to the story. This is a movie mainly focused on these two and the construction and demolishing of a relationship all at the same time.

And the performances are good. The interesting part about this movie is that its a lot of one on one conversations and its almost always one person singing while the other person listens and responds by just speaking.

Its a really interesting and different kind of movie and it makes sense to do this particular musical as an independent film in its adaptation.

Honestly, the story isn't that grandiose or epic, its just a very personal story between these two so it wasn't going to garner any huge crowds to see it so it made sense it had a small release and was a cheap independent film.

However, that doesn't really put aside the fact that the story is a little bit contrived. While Jordan and Kendrick do a good job with the characters they are provided, there's not much of a balance between these two characters. I don't think the movie was intending this but there is a clear good guy and bad guy in this relationship and you see it from the very beginning.

It does do a good job at creating a real-ish relationship between these two, especially with the kinds of struggles they go through and their ambition and dreams on the line, but at the end of the day, you're going to like one of them and kind of really hate the other one and I don't think it was as balanced as it could have been.

I suppose another thing worth mentioning is that at a certain point these stories collide and they are on the same time.

Not only do things get a little bit confusing for a hot minute, but I don't feel like the second half of the movie was as clear and concise as the first half way. This is mainly because these two don't sing together until that middle section and it takes a little bit to tear them apart again.

I'm sure that's just me not being as smart as other people might but I can imagine the middle section taking a little bit for people to understand what is going on and get them back on track with the format of the show.

The last thing worth really mentioning is of course, the music.

The music is... good.

Its not gonna blow your mind, its not awful, its just kind of forgettable. I definitely enjoyed the songs while they were playing but there's nothing that is going to stick in your head or make you want to come back for more.

Its a pretty standard musical and I will say Anna Kendrick and Jeremie Jordan are both very talented singers, they just aren't anything that you're going to want to rush out and buy the soundtrack to this movie for.

Probably the most memorable song is "Summer in Ohio" and my god is Anna Kendrick cute in that song, I just don't think she has the voice for a big show stopper which I kind of feel like that song was suppose to be.

Now I'm not saying she's bad, far from it. But even in a movie like Pitch Perfect, she's more likely to sing a song like the Cup Song, very personal, more quiet, not so much the huge songs. And it actually works for her in this musical because that's what a lot of these songs are.

Overall, The Last Five Years is a pretty standard love story musical. Its the kind of movie you'd watch if you wanted something a little bit different than your standard Nicholas Sparks novel, but were in a mood for music and had just watched Memento.

The format and the performances are good, but the story and the music are all pretty standard. You're not gonna have a worm in your ear for weeks after you see this movie but you might be entertained at least, and while it is pretty standard all around, its just different enough to be a good date movie. Happy Valentines Day.

Have you seen The Last Five Years? What did you think about it? Comment and Discuss below. You can also send me your thoughts on Twitter @cmhaugen24 as well as requests for movies I should review in the future. If you follow me on twitter you can also get updates on future movie news and reviews as well as live tweets (sometimes) of movies I'm watching live.

I'll leave you with this. I have no idea why Anna Kendrick and Kristen Chenowith did a performance of "For Good" from Wicked... but its on the internet. Might as well put it up! Enjoy!