Movie of the Week: The Last Five Years

Alexa: The film adaptation of “The Last Five Years” was my first exposure to this musical, having never seen the show or listened to the soundtrack. And while it’s not a perfect film, I was hooked right away. Apparently in the stage version, the two leads rarely interact with each other, each taking the spotlight on their own as they tell their side of the story. But here, Jamie and Cathy are in nearly every scene together, and I think the film is better for it. The movie gives us an intimate, almost voyeuristic look at the intricacies of their relationship, so while keeping the actors apart on stage might be effective in that environment, on screen I think watching them interact is essential to our understanding of their bond. The inventive non-linear structure adds some storytelling interest to the tale without being overwhelming or confusing (Jamie’s perspective tells the story of their romance chronologically; Cathy’s is in reverse). The music is engaging and memorable. The direction is relatively one-note. It doesn’t add much to the story artistically, so you have to be totally invested in the two leads in order for the film to work. Fortunately “The Last Five Years” found two stellar ones in Anna Kendrick and Jeremy Jordan, both seasoned theater vets who make the transition to a different medium pretty seamlessly. This movie rests on their shoulders. They have excellent chemistry together and deliver powerful performances on their own. Kendrick in particular in superb, her nuanced and natural portrayal of Cathy perhaps the best work of her career.

Joel: It appears watching it, that the gimmick of The Last Five Years (the story being told forward and  in reverse at the same time) was thought up first and the story then molded to fit that idea. This means that there are a few points where the movie feels like it has to bend backwards to keep the gimmick going. This movie is also an adaptation of a stage show, and that means that there are a few awkwardly adapted moments as well. For example, some songs have just one person on stage singing, but the movie added in the partner listening to the song which results in a few moments that feel like they should be duets where one person never really gets their verse. It also detracts a bit from the one duet that is in the show, halfway through when the stories meet in the middle.
That being said, The Last Five Years is still a movie that is a performer's dream. The entire thing rests on the shoulders of the two leads, and in this case the movie may have gotten the best possible options for each character. Jeremy Jordan is a Broadway veteran and it shows here. Anna Kendrick may be putting on the best performance of her career so far in this movie. While each person has to spend time listening to the other one sing, they’re able to, in most cases, pull it off wonderfully. Kendrick listening to “The Schmuel Song” and offering occasional comments is just as enjoyable to watch as Jordan singing it. I’m not sure that The Last Five Years can have a perfect translation to the screen. It’s a story and a storytelling gimmick that’s designed to be put on the stage. But if there was going to be an adaptation done of the musical, this is the right cast to have done it with and this might be the best possible screen version of the show.

Chris: My overall positive feeling about The Last Five Years simply boils down to the performance of the two actors and the music is enjoyable. I wasn’t a fan of the story structure which reminded me of 500 Days of Summer but less organized but the music was good enough to overlook most of what I didn’t like. I can’t even really blame the story structure on the movie because it’s how the musical itself is structured so I guess I don’t really have any complaints on the movie. The musical takes a harsh look at how a relationship can go south and what might lead partners to cheat, not condoning but simply explaining. Honestly, watching it now and as popular as Pitch Perfect was around the time of this movie coming out, I’m surprised The Last Five Years wasn’t more of a thing you heard about when it was released or even simply given a wide release at all. I wouldn’t necessarily call it a fun date night movie but I feel like it definitely should be more well known than what it is.

Jason: I’m gonna be candid here, I was not prepared for an opera. I figured it was going to be a musical based on the blurb but what we got caught me off guard. The subject matter also caught me off guard. I thought it was going to be a rom-com and this was NOT a rom-com. I have always considered myself to be a fan of musicals but what this movie has taught me is that I am a fan of more classic style musicals, not so much modern style ones. I enjoys shows like “Les Mis”, “Little Shop of Horrors”, “Phantom of the Opera”, “the Music Man”, and even things as new as “Avenue Q” and the “Book of Mormon”. I found the style and writing in these songs to be… off putting. I can’t quite put my finger on it but I just wasn’t as impressed with the music as I feel like I should have been. And then, there is the story: Guy hooks up with girl, gets a lucky break, and turns out to be a complete asshat. From the moment they got engaged, he had a song about how he couldn’t stand being engaged because it made other women “off limits”. What a scumbag! And the fact that she put up with it for so long! I don’t know. I just could not get behind it.

I did like the structure of the story. Flipping back and forth, going forward from one perspective and backward from the other. (although, I think Chris Nolan did it better in Memento) Reading through the IMDB facts, I saw that on the stage production, the characters only shared the stage during one number: their wedding, directly in the middle of the story. That would have been incredibly powerful. I think I would have appreciated this more as the stage play rather than a movie.

Anyway, I think that’s enough crapping on a film everyone else liked. Again.