TRUE LOVE in the cinema today!

Hi, friends! I wanted to let you know about a movie coming out in theaters today called ONE TRUE LOVES, adapted from the novel and written for the screen by Taylor Jenkins Reid (author of THE SEVEN HUSBANDS OF EVELYN HUGO) with her husband Alex Jenkins Reid. The film is directed by Andy Fickman and produced by Sarah Finn (yes, the casting director of the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe and producer of EVERYWHERE, EVERYWHERE) and starring Simu Liu (SHANG-CHI AND THE LEGEND OF TEN RINGS, "Kim's Convenience"), Luke Bracey (POINT BREAK, G.I. JOE - RETALIATION), Phillipa Soo ("Hamilton") and Michaela Conlin ("Bones"). Check out the trailer:

The film intrigued me with its story of soul mates and the idea that absence makes the heart grow fonder. Emma has an impossible decision to make when the husband she thought was dead reappears and expects her to come back to him as if nothing had happened and no time was wasted. (If you're thinking about Helen Hunt's character dilemma in CASTAWAY, then you're in my head, now.) The film does a good job of navigating that dilemma and Phillipa Soo does a great job of wearing the struggle on her sleeve. as she tries to reconcile the idea of ​​having two true loves. Simu Liu is fantastic as lovesick executioner Sam, somehow caught in the wake of this miracle that has become his personal tragedy, and Luke Bracey does a great job as haunted Jesse, brought back to a world he recognizes barely after four years alone. on a desert island.

While everyone involved in the film, from writing to directing to acting, does a terrific job, the film before us is actually not not very good. It was painful to watch and I truly felt it was one of the worst movies I had ever seen. I'm sad to say this because I met a lot of the creators behind the film and they're all lovely people, and I would have liked to see this film as a test screening so I could offer some feedback because I think it's is really just a bad assembly, so it could be "fixed". Perhaps the adaptation clung too tightly to the book format, but the film's opening is cut with so many frequent flashbacks that the pacing knocks the viewer out of their minds almost immediately. Later, when there's a tense scene with two principles across the room from each other, the edit dwells on one or the other too long and the pace of their intense conversation seems tense and stretched. This brings one out of the scene. Likewise, the film struggles with its tone. It's billed as a romantic comedy, but there's very little fun about Jesse's or Sam's situation, or the dilemma Emma finds herself in. Simu leverages her scenes with her high school band class for some light-hearted good laughs and Michaela Conlin does a great job as the unlikely voice of reason throughout, and I wish I could celebrate this movie more because the diversity and the hard work is there, although the cut finish doesn't do it justice.

I was able to attend the red carpet premiere last week and chat with some of the people there, and they couldn't have looked nicer.

Eric McClanahan - Sarah Finn, what drew you to this project?

Sarah Finn - Taylor Jenkins Reid, who wrote the novel and many others and is exploding, is my former casting assistant. She worked for me for several years in casting and she always wanted to write. She would come after the weekend and say, "Oh, I haven't had time to write." So I said "I really think you should stop casting and try writing," and within six months she had landed her first book deal and the rest is history. So when this script came to me from Andy [Fickman] with the name Taylor and the name Alex, I said yes before I caught my breath. I was so excited to work on that, then we had Simu Liu who I had worked with on SHANG-CHI AND THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS and it was a great meeting. The movie felt like family and it's very exciting to see it here tonight.

Eric McClanahan - Alex Jenkins Reid, this film is about kindred spirits but also about the old adage that absence makes the heart grow. What do you think of this old tale?

Alex Jenkins Reid - I feel like that's a good point, so much of a relationship, and I'm by no means an expert, but it's the effort you put into it put, whether you're together or apart, and I think there's opportunity in any situation, whether you're with someone all the time or there's some distance. But the movie definitely explores those things: the idea of ​​a soul mate, if there is one, doesn't mean that all...