Ron’s Review

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I’m surprised by how much I enjoyed this. It was a really sweet romantic film about two people finding a very niche, common interest and falling in love as they explore that. It’s got so much music, and even though I’m not a Neil Diamond fan, I enjoyed listening to all the songs.

But the second half of the film struggles. The build up with the romance is so involved and well-paced, that without that romance to hold it together, the story begins to fall apart. Scenes are thrown in willy-nilly and even though it’s meant to show that this family is losing track of time, it comes across as too disjointed.

I also want to add that the disability community has spoken out against the film. They have mentioned being disappointed in the depiction of disabilities in this film and the fact that a non-disabled was cast. Considering the injury that the character has, this role could have easily been played by an actor with a disability.

I’m also really confused by the timeline here. Are we to believe that all the events of this film happened in a two, maybe three, year period? The couple were married for 12 years but the timeline in the film seems much shorter and quite implausible.

The performances are surprisingly strong. I was expecting over the top melodrama but aside from a couple of moments, Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson do a great job. In any other year, Jackman probably would’ve got an Oscar nom. He’s a great performer and he brings every bit of his stage experience to this role. He’s lovely to watch and has some very heartfelt scenes.

Hudson has been nominated for an Oscar and I get it. I didn’t expect to but she’s surprisingly natural in her performance. She seems like a real person not a movie star pretending to be a person. There’s a lot of depth here; like when she’s trying to look strong for her family even though she’s terrified. I’m shocked that Hudson can act this well.

The movie has a hell of an ending that I didn’t expect. If that was all real, my goodness, this poor family. But I love how this film made me feel like I was watching a real family. Shocked at how good this was!

Mon’s Review

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I did not want to watch this film, but the Oscar noms came around, and I decided I had to. I am truly surprised by how much I enjoyed it. It was really sweet and emotional. 

The performances were all stellar. I am shocked Hugh Jackman hasn’t got any praise for his work. He was amazing! He had two really emotional moments and he really moved me. 

I am not a fan of Kate Hudson but she was great too. And she did her own singing in this film, which is wow, even better. 

The problem with this film is the second act. They fast forward over the toughest parts of the story. The film starts with the statement that this is based on a true love story. True love is sticking by each other and getting through the really gnarly bits. The creators didn’t have to wallow in the drama, but they needed to show, not tell, how much the characters’ lives had changed and how that affected them. In all honesty, this film probably needed less of the very joyful beginning song montages, so that the difficult stuff was dealt with thoroughly. 

Now, the biggest problem with this film is that it’s about a character with a disability, who is played by someone not from the community. There is absolutely no reason why an actor with a disability couldn’t have played this role. It is truly disappointing to see Hollywood ignore entire communities, and thereby their actual lived experiences. 

As much as this film was heartening to watch, it’s troubling that Hollywood still continues to be so insular.