More Rom than Com

Hey Brooke,

So you know this class I keep talking about, the one with watching Netflix for homework. You get to be part of it now! Yay! So this week I watched the Netflix original rom com When we First Met. Not going to lie, it was kind of disappointing. The premise from the trailer shows the main character Noah, played by Adam Devine, going back in time with multiple attempts to try to escape the friend zone with his best friend Avery, played by Alexandra Daddario. There are a few kinks thrown into the plot, most notable the ending, but overall that is about all this movie has to offer. My problems with the movie largely stem from its lack of comedy and, to some degree, the level of predictability.

Now I know you are not a fan of rom coms, in the slightest, even after my pressuring. You would hate this movie, though. This stems from the lack of meaningful comedy (rom coms only redeeming factor in your eyes). While there are a few moments in the film where Adam Devine’s signature comedic style breaks through, overall the writers missed the mark entirely. One scene in particular where this sticks out to me is a scene where Noah has, Avery’s fiance from the original timeline, Ethan in his car. In this car Ethan reveals information to Noah that he predicted, and therefore slammed on the break causing Ethan to bang his head into the seat in front of him. This was supposed to be funny, but instead just seemed sad and made me feel bad for Ethan. These scenes are common in the movie, but are accompanied by scenes that just make one cringe. One such scene being the cliche, “Wow, am I really in the past? Let me ask everyone and seem crazy!” often found in movies about time travel. As you know, I don’t find these funny and the mixture of these two types of comedy made me question if this was even a rom com or just a rom.

The other critique I had of this movie was the predictability. Since you have watched movies with me, you know that I often shout out my predictions or thoughts on the movie while watching, and if you had been with me during this movie I most likely would have predicted a good portion of the movie (I do exclude about the last 20 minutes from this statement). This stems from the movie cliches of time travel, which, surprise, give Noah unintended consequences in each of his trips back in time. I enjoy when my predictions come true often, but in this movie it was so often I lost interest; I do like a little diversity.

Overall I was not impressed by the writing of this movie. The comedy was not funny and did not connect, and the plot proved to be predictable and cliche. I rate the movie about a 6/10 not great, a decent time killer if not just for the more interesting plot points and characters, and a movie you would hate to watch. That being said I might make you watch it for your response… Sorry, not sorry!