'Somebody I Used to Know' film review: Franco & Brie's angsty drama escapes rom-com trappings
Real-life spouses Dave Franco and Alison Brie craft the existential drama of a woman reconsidering the many choices her made in pursuit of her career in the romantic comedy 'Somebody I Used to Know' (streaming on Prime Video starting Feb. 10).
In short: After a career setback, workaholic Ally (Alison Brie) returns to her small hometown - when she runs into her ex Sean (Jay Ellis), prompting her to question her work and life choices. Kiersey Clemons, Danny Pudi, Haley Joel Osment and Julie Hagerty also star.
On the surface, 'Somebody' finds an artist at a crossroads in her life - wherein aspiring documentary filmmaker Ally lives alone and struggles to keep her baking reality TV show afloat - when she bumps into an old flame, rekindling old feelings. But more importantly, the crux of 'Somebody' (and where the movie works best) is Ally's inner conflict on multiple levels: she desperately tries to keep her show alive ... despite kinda hating her show. And Ally's single-minded mission to win back Sean is disrupted by Cassidy (Clemons), a young woman who reminds Ally of her own youthful passion.
An easy-to-overlook detail that's pretty fundamental to 'Somebody' - this is a rom-com without a lot of romance. After a montage of Ally and Sean's really fun night together early in the movie ... the two don't interact that much. And this actually really works for the flick because it's pretty clear 'Somebody' isn't so much about Ally actually being in love with Sean ... rather, it's Ally being in love with the idea of getting back together with Sean.
There's a little bit of 'My Best Friend's Wedding' in this movie's DNA - even to the point where the self-aware script wryly references the Julia Roberts movie. But this flick's secret ingredient is Cassidy (Kiersey Clemons), who is essentially the film's titular character - and in the 'Best Friend's Wedding' analogy, she's basically the Cameron Diaz character ... except Cassidy actually has some character depth. At first blush Ally is the obvious "villain," as she is the old girlfriend popping into town just in time to blow up her ex's wedding ... but co-writers Franco and Brie crafted a story that empathizes with its three main characters. The script delicately creates three flawed, human characters - and lets them make some poor choices, but choices informed by their anxieties, fears and insecurities.
'Somebody' flirts with having a bit of a tone issue, as it wavers between straight up rom-com and thoughtful romantic drama. The film finds its footing in Ally's character conflict but stumbles in its attempts at some distracting broad humor. The story's resonant themes of regret and sacrifice are sometimes undercut by some shallow bits, like Ally's cat pooping and throwing up or unwanted dick pics ... hilarious (sigh). Thankfully the script mostly jettisons these lazy bits after the first act, swapping out some base-level bits in favor of character-driven humor. That said, Haley Joel Osment's character seems out of place, as if he was plucked right out of an antiquated, broad rom-com. Comedy legend Julie Hagerty is criminally underused - but she's hilarious in the few moments her character gets to shine.
Final verdict: Franco and Brie discretely hide a thoughtful existential drama beneath the trappings of a "romantic comedy."
Score: 3.5/5
'Somebody I Used to Know' streams on Prime Video starting Feb. 10. This romantic comedy has a runtime of 106 minutes and is rated R for sexual content, graphic nudity, language throughout and brief drug use.
