It Ends With Us, the 2024 film from director Justin Baldoni (Clouds, Five Feet Apart), is another example of a film movie that had the potential to be great but ultimately tried to either do too much or incorporate too many elements that weren’t otherwise needed in an attempt to want to be more than the movie was capable of delivering. While there is quite a discrepancy between critics and audiences (55% vs. 89% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes), it’s tough to dispute that this touches on issues significant in today’s society, including a conclusion that feels murky and haunting, but also honest and authentic, and one that I haven’t seen before in movies or shows about the subject matter. It Ends With Us does have trigger warnings. Proceed cautiously as you decide to watch or read my review.
Burnt (2015)
Good things happen to bad people. That was my impression of Adam, the lead character of John Wells’s (August: Osage County, The Company Men) imperfect but underappreciated Burnt. The Bradley Cooper (Maestro, A Star Is Born) 2015 release came when its lead actor was on a cold streak with poorly received big-budget releases such as Aloha, Joy, and Serena. This was abysmal timing as Cooper, who, the year before, had just become the 10th male actor ever to earn three consecutive acting Oscar nominations (Silver Linings Playbook, American Sniper, American Hustle).
Emilia Pérez (2024)
Emilia Pérez, the not-so-quiet musical, has quickly become this year’s Oscar darling over awards season, racking up 13 Academy Award nominations, three more than any other film. It is one of the more divisive Best Picture nominations in recent memory. Critics like it but don’t love it, as evidenced by its 75% fresh score on Rotten Tomatoes and 71 on Metacritic. Those scores alone suggest it’s one of the year’s better movies, but it is far from a consensus. Worse are the audience scores, with a meager 27% fresh Rotten Tomatoes audience score and 6.2 on IMDB. Some are comparing its surge to Crash (2004) and Green Book (2018), two great films that may have earned their Best Picture Academy Award wins, based more on where we were in American society during those periods than on the timeless quality of the movie itself. While that is not something I would say, I would agree that neither film was the best of those years. I have Crash as my sixth favorite and Green Book as my third favorite movie of the year. Similarly, Emilia Pérez is not the best movie of 2024, but it will finish in my top ten. Like those above, it’s not perfect, and its timely, topical relevance is a factor of its generated steam.
Gladiator II (2024)
Sometimes, sequels aren’t needed. They are often used as quick and easy cash grabs, more than anything. I can’t fault those involved. I used to get frustrated about my favorite films getting unneeded sequels, though not nearly as upset with remakes of my favorite movies. I now accept that sequels, remakes, reboots, and prequels will continue to exist as long as the profits are large. But that doesn’t mean the producers, directors, cast, etc., only need to go through the motions, pick up their paycheck, and call it a day before moving on to their next project. Gladiator II is a movie that didn’t need to be made and didn’t have the most original story. However, despite its lack of need and poor script, it is a captivating film, rich in action sequences, visuals, and sound. It’s not a film to seek out, though if you watch it, experiencing it on as large a screen as possible with surround sound is the best way to go.
Anora (2024)
Blue Valentine, An Education, Silver Linings Playbook, Pretty Woman, The Worst Person in the World, Before Midnight, and Like Crazy. These were the seven movies in the first article I pulled up after an online search of “movies like Anora” returned. As a fan of all seven films, I needed nothing more to decide that Sean Baker’s (Red Rocket, The Florida Project) Anora was one I needed to see. I did not need to see a preview. I did not need to read a synopsis. Instead, I had to find out how quickly I could watch the film. My viewing happened soon after. It was a mixed bag and one that mostly failed. While Silver Linings Playbook and Pretty Woman have good-natured moments of good-naturedness and humor, I wouldn’t label any of these as comedies or unbelievable. While I could see vague similarities, Anora was much more comedy-first, absurd second, and attempts to portray emotional bleakness third. I would not have listed it with the movies the article I read compared it to.