I Want You Back (2022) Review!!

Synopsis – Newly dumped thirty-somethings Peter and Emma team up to sabotage their exes’ new relationships and win them back for good.

My Take – It’s certainly not an emotion I like to reminiscence about, but like anyone who has ever been in a relationship, I do know how it feels to get dumped. A feeling which procrastinates you from doing anything but wallow in nostalgia or simply just obsess over the ‘What if ‘scenario. Post-breakup, it is also typical to indulge in a lot of actions, typically ones which fills you with regret later, especially like excessive stalking on social media, and having unceremonious thoughts about your ex.

But what if you ended up connecting with someone who also got dumped the same weekend, and knows exactly what you are going through?

This Amazon Prime release takes this situation and applies it to the omnipresent romantic comedy genre, all in the hopes of deriving laughs out of its romantic aspirant’s conditions and follow up actions. An unconventional approach which thankfully works, due to some sharp writing, and the extraordinary comic timing of its leads.

Written by Isaac Aptaker and Elizabeth Berger (This Is Us, How I Met Your Father) and directed by Jason Orley (Big Time Adolescence), this film is a shining example of a romantic comedy done right, as it hits the rare spot in which getting together in the end isn’t the endgame, but rediscovering oneself is.

Sure, it’s doesn’t entirely reinvent the wheel as the final act mostly falls into familiar tropes, but in comparison, it sure is more sensitive than you might expect from this kind of a mainstream romp. A simple, pleasant and light fun entertainer that has enough laughs, heart, and characters you end up caring about.

The story follows Peter (Charlie Day) and Emma (Jenny Slate) who unexpectedly get kicked to the curb by their longtime respective partners. Nice guy Peter’s girlfriend of six years, Anne (Gina Rodriguez), abruptly dumps him because he’s a bit boring and she wants a bigger life, to be a Broadway star and dream which she sees happening by being with Logan (Manny Jacinto), who is directing a play at the middle school where she teaches.

While, Emma’s boyfriend of more than a year, Noah (Scott Eastwood), a fitness trainer, is turned off by her lack of career ambition, her lack of direction and her awkward living condition with two college students. But mostly, Noah’s ready to move on because he has met Ginny (Clark Backo), a stunning, independent woman who runs her own pie shop down the street from his gym.

However, when the two crushed souls end up coincidentally meeting in the stairwell of the office building where they both work, they soon become a match made in misery and hatch a chaotic plan to sabotage their respective exes’ new relationships and win them back. A plan seemingly doomed to failure, but certain to provide many opportunities for laughter.

The premise is simple. And rather than pull a classic rom-com move and pretend to date each other to make their exes jealous, Emma sets out to seduce Logan and Peter sets out to friendship-seduce Noah. The two ditched lovers spend most of the film scheming and pining over their defunct relationships, but along the way, form an unexpected friendship.

What makes it all the more remarkable is that despite their evil plans we’re still able to see how lovable and charming both Emma and Peter are, and justify their irrational behavior only because they are so heartbroken. There’s a sincerity and care with which the film approaches them, as a result it ends up working better as a moving-on film focused on Peter and Emma’s individual journeys of healing and self-acceptance.

The film is genuinely funny in a way that doesn’t rely on sitcom scenarios, and even when you think the film is going to lean into the absurd it pulls back at just the right moment, keeping itself grounded. It also eschews the extraordinary plot twists and hurdles of the rom com archetype. Instead, it makes use of very real problems that plenty of thirty somethings can relate to like career stagnation and social media-induced self-esteem issues.

Sure, it’s pretty predictable and feels a touch long, especially towards the end, yet it is hard to discount the fresh spin the film brings on the typical friends-to-lovers trope, and has a unique ending that will make fans of the slow-burn romance cheer. But thanks mainly to the leads, the film remains perfectly enjoyable throughout.

Without the right pairing, these film could easily have become creepy and even sinister, but Jenny Slate and Charlie Day‘s natural rapport never allows that to happen. Slate and Day are just as charming and hilarious together as you’d expect, and watching their mischievous and cynical, but still warm and endearing, personalities mesh together makes this one delightful to watch all the way through.

Not only are the two able to get across just how desperate and depressing their characters have become, they make sure that the audiences are laughing at their increasingly unstable antics, too.

In supporting roles, Gina Rodriguez and Manny Jacinto, bring a much-needed dose of energy to the proceedings, while Scott Eastwood adds nuance and empathy to the standard gym bro. Sadly, the charming Clark Backo gets the least screen time and therefore is the least fleshed-out.

In small roles, Luke David Blumm, Dylan Gelula, Mason Gooding, Isabel May and Jami Gertz are also good. Ben McKenzie and the inimitable Pete Davidson appear in fun cameos. On the whole, ‘I Want You Back’ is a charming breakup romantic comedy that delivers harmless pleasantness and laughs.