It is Saturday morning and the weekend has officially begun again! So why not head into it with another review from the ever-growing world of independent cinema and the treasures within. While, as with any genre, it has its ups and downs, the indie film journey in total has been fruitful. Glad to say this trend continues with “The Last 5 Years”.
WATCH THE TRAILER HERE
Adapting the 2001 musical by Tony Award-winning lyricist/composer Jason Robert Brown and helmed by Richard LaGravenese (“P.S. I Love You“, “Beautiful Creatures“), this New York City-based tale follows a young couple, Cathy Hiatt (Anna Kendrick) and Jamie Wellerstein (Jeremy Jordan), as their 5-year love affair and marriage has sadly come to an end. Each tells the story from the opposite perspectives on events, with Cathy’s side beginning at the end while Jamie recollects happier days when they first met and fell in love. Throughout, we see how Cathy has been a struggling actress whose “high” point each year is the Ohio Summer Theater (A total disaster. But, in defense of Ohio, where this reviewer resides, we do have some excellent theater here! So no judgment!) while Jamie, a writer/novelist, gets his big break and experiences huge success. As his newfound fame and fortune explodes, it leaves Cathy in the wings as she see herself becoming less and less of a priority to him, despite his initial efforts to prove otherwise. But, the more time that passes over the couple’s five year period, the situation doesn’t improve and finally, a decision is made and the story ultimately comes full circle.
The story is apparently based on Brown’s actual life experience with his now ex-wife Theresa O’Neill, who threatened legal action at one time because the portrayal of Cathy and Jamie came too close to the real events. Making some minor changes in a song title, Brown alleviated any further issue. While it is not a story with a happy ending for the two lead characters, the overall execution and presentation of the five years is very well done, emotionally potent, and entertaining. Kendrick absolutely shines as Cathy, bringing the needed sense of realism to her ups and downs via a strong, passionate voice in moments of humor, anger, joy, and heartbreak. This is most effectively illustrated in songs like “Still Hurting”, “See I’m Smiling”, “I’m A Part of That”, “A Summer In Ohio”, and “I Could Do Better Than That”. Likewise, Jordan possesses a strong tenor vocal that can express the deepest tenderness to the biggest joy or frustration via songs like “Shiksa Goddess”, The Schmuel Song”, “Moving Too Fast”, and “If I Didn’t Believe In You”. Then, the duo works musical magic together in “The Next Ten Minutes”, “A Miracle Would Happen/When You Come Home To Me”, and the heartbreaking finality of Goodbye Until Tomorrow/I Could Never Rescue You”. The singing dialogue format here genuinely works to emphasize the gravity of the couple’s journey, good and bad, moreso than this reviewer thinks had it been spoken. And what hits one even more is that this scenario probably happens a lot more in real life than we even want to admit. That is heartbreaking in itself.
As always, this is all for your consideration and comment. Until next time, thank you for reading!
