It's never a great sign when a film's protagonist utters the movie's title in a line of dialogue, however perfectly placed or delivered. Such is the case for It Ends With Us, the adaptation of Colleen Hoover's popular novel of the same name starring and produced by Blake Lively. It's Lively's character, Lily Bloom (yes, that's her name), who says the words at a key moment in the film's final scenes, and it's just one in a long list of cringe-worthy moments in a drama that's so over-polished and sparkling clean that Lively could do her hair and make-up in its reflection.
Film adaptions of popular novels are hard and inevitably victims of nit-picky criticism from die-hard fans of the book. Film reviews of the film adaptation of a book are difficult in their own right; if you've read the book, you run the risk of becoming one of those detail-obsessed superfans. If you've not, it can be argued that it's hard to truly understand the intent and impact of the characters and narrative.
It can be argued, but those taking that stance would be wrong. From my perspective, a film is a film is a film, and whether it's original IP, an adaptation, a remake or something else entirely, it's a singular piece of art and should be able to stand on its own rather than rely on any sort of additional context or awareness being required. All that to say, this is how I entered It Ends With Us, and I'm not sure that having read the original book would've helped its cause at all.
Directed by (and co-starring) Justin Baldoni, this film is Lively's through and through, from her role in the creative direction as producer to her role as Lily, the film's main character and whose journey we join for the more than two hours we're with her. She's moved down to Boston from her small-town home in Maine shortly after her father's passing, and she's processing the complicated grief that comes with the death of someone problematic when she meets cute Baldoni's soap-opera-hot neurosurgeon, Ryle Kincaid (what names!).
The early scene had me cautiously optimistic about what was to come, as the script has the characters seeming quite self-aware of the absurdity of it all, from their names to Ryle's profession to the circumstances under which they meet (let's just say one of them is not supposed to be where they are). But even here, there are hints of a heavy-handedness that is just too blunt to ignore, and my optimism would soon give way to disappointment as despite plenty of factors working in its favor, It Ends With Us fails to find any depth in its rather serious subject matter, instead glossing over much of the trauma and after-effects of its revelations for the sake of gorgeous people dressed phenomenally well.
And it's true, there is a lot that works here, including Lively. She's a capable actor and her breezy charm and comfort in the spotlight translate well to the role of a woman finding her way forward after disappointment. The supporting ensemble is a welcome addition, including Jenny Slate's Allysa (Ryle's apparently absurdly wealthy sister, who conveniently walks into Lily's new flower shop looking for a jobby—a job that's really more of a hobby) and her husband, Marshall (Hasan Minhaj). And for the most part, Hoover (who adapted the script with Christy Hall) manages to coherently juggle the timelines as we meet a younger Lily (newcomer and Lively doppelgänger Isabel Ferrer) and her first love, Atlas (Alex Neustaedter as a teen; Brandon Sklenar as an adult).
But It Ends With Us appears to be more concerned with hitting its mark on every beat of its complicated yet predictable plot (I guessed the next line of dialogue more than once) than addressing the very serious nature of the subject matter at hand, domestic violence. There are only brief moments of intensity, none of which are brave enough to do anything but hint at what's really going on, and Lily only ever makes half-hearted attempts at processing any of the generational trauma she's dabbling with confronting. All of it leaves a viewer feeling shortchanged, not of something ugly and painful, but of truth and authenticity. What's here is something with the aroma of a meaningful, moving film, not the actual bloom of that particular flower.
And yet, I can still acknowledge that it's a good thing the film version has found its way into the world and on a platform as broad as Lively and the studio can offer it. There are likely plenty of fans of the book to drive this one to box office success, and if the film, as low-stakes and unserious as it is, offers a glimmer of hope to just one person in a situation similar to Lily's then perhaps its flaws can be forgiven.
It Ends With Us is now in theaters.
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