"Better a fallen rocket than never a burst of light."
~ Tom Stoppard, The Invention of Love

Tuesday, April 18, 2017

The Last Five Years (2014, PG-13)

I really love Jason Robert Brown’s The Last Five Years – gorgeous music, complex themes, intriguing plotting, and some terrific lyrics.  If I recall correctly, it was my introduction to Brown as a composer, as well as Norbert Leo Butz as an actor.  Today, though, we’re not looking at Brown’s original 2001 off-Broadway music but the 2014 film adaptation of it.  Seeing Newsies in the theater reinvigorated my interest in filmed musicals and movie musicals, which allowed me to finally bring this movie up on my Netflix queue (premise spoilers.)

As in the stage show, The Last Five Years is the story of the relationship between Jamie, a young writer who experiences a whirlwind rise to fame, and Cathy, an aspiring actress who can’t seem to catch a break.  The film takes us from the relationship’s breathless beginning to its tearful end – nothing all that unique in and of itself, but the split, non-linear narrative guides us through it from opposite ends.  Jamie’s songs open with their first date and move forward, while Cathy’s begin with the dissolution of their relationship five years later and move backward.

This was a really frustrating adaptation for me.  It has a lot of good things going for it and could have been great, but for my money, the direction lets down both the source material and the cast.  First off, we have the translation of the story from script to screen.  To me, it mostly feels uninspired.  Some numbers (like “Still Hurting”) seem to be directed too statically while others (like “Shiksa Goddess”) are hampered by some really cheesy-looking love scenes – having the actors run their hands over each other while one sings with their mouth close to the other’s while never actually kissing them doesn’t look as convincing as director Richard LaGravenese seems to think it does.  Also, there are very few cinematic markers to signify the non-linear narrative.  Little hints – changing hair/clothing styles, conspicuous shots of things with the date on them (like a New Year’s Eve banner or a sign for a summer theatre’s season) – but not much in the actual filmmaking itself.  To be fair, the first time I heard the stage recording, I already knew how the narrative device worked, so I can’t say how much of this is the material versus the adaptation.  But for the film at least, I think I might have spent at least the first few scenes pretty confused if I hadn’t known the set-up going in.  The movie needs something, and I’ll admit I’m not sure what, but there had to be a more cinematic way to indicate the changing time.

Part of this is because of how present each character is in the other one’s numbers.  The show is designed mostly as a series of alternating solos, with the two only singing together when their timelines meet in the middle for their wedding, and it tends to be staged with the “off” actor in any given song absent together, positioned with their back to the audience, or otherwise somewhat removed from the proceedings compared to their scene partner.  Here, though, both actors are present onscreen throughout quite a few of the songs, the “off” actor visibly, and sometimes verbally, reacting to the other’s songs.  I’m of two minds about this.  On one hand, it helps to give a better picture of what Cathy and Jamie’s relationship is like and fleshes them out more as a couple.  On the other, it blurs the clear delineations between the two narratives and muddies the focus a little.  Again, there had to be a cinematic fix for this.

These issues are disappointing, not only because of how much I enjoy the original score/story, but because of how good the cast is.  This is an intimate story that really depends on just two actors to carry it through, and Anna Kendrick and Jeremy Jordan are both excellent.  Kendrick is an able singer who sells Cathy’s joy, heartbreak, worry, and hope in equal measure, and Jordan’s superb vocals and nuanced performance keep Jamie engaging even when he stops being likeable.  These two are a winning combination for these roles and sell the connection between their characters, but mostly, they make me wish they were in a film that served them better.

Warnings

Swearing, mild sexual content, drinking, and thematic elements.

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