I Want You Back
By Sandie Angulo Chen,
Common Sense Media Reviewer
Common Sense Media Reviewers
Break-up romcom is surprisingly sweet; language, drinking.
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I Want You Back
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What's the Story?
I WANT YOU BACK is a romantic comedy that starts with two break-ups. Funny and scattered Emma (Jenny Slate) is at brunch with Noah (Scott Eastwood), her boyfriend of more than a year, when he gently explains that he's leaving her for a more driven and put-together woman who owns a pie shop. Meanwhile, stable and sweet Peter (Charlie Day) is at a birthday party for the nephew of his girlfriend of six years, Anne (Gina Rodriguez), who breaks up with him in search of excitement and spontaneity. Emma and Peter soon discover that their exes have posted photos with their new love interests and find themselves crying in their building's emergency stairwell at the same time. In the mood to commiserate over being unceremoniously dumped, the "dumpees" quickly become friends in their post-break-up grief ("Sadness Sisters" they dub themselves). Eventually, Peter and Emma decide to make a Strangers on a Train-style pact to sabotage their exes' current relationships -- Emma by seducing Anne's new boyfriend, middle school drama teacher Logan (Manny Jacinto), and Peter by becoming Noah's personal training client and pointing out his new girlfriend Ginny's (Clark Backo) subtle flaws.
Is It Any Good?
Day and Slate shine in this charming romcom about two people who slowly fall for each other while sabotaging their exes' current relationships. There's a sweet and substantive undertone to screenwriters Isaac Aptaker and Elizabeth Berger's story, even if it's about a deceitful scheme to break up two couples. Slate and Day aren't just talented comic actors, they also have the emotional range to show how someone who's been recently dumped feels lost, confused, and depressed. There's an authenticity to the comedy beyond the surface element of how both main characters Instagram-stalk and find their exes. Director Jason Orley explores the many issues that come with dating in your 30s and the way that complacency and the fear of starting over can cause people to stay in incompatible relationships.
Peter isn't a traditionally "hot and handsome" catch like personal trainer Noah; he's a generous-hearted man who's good with kids, works with the elderly, and convinces a friend not to drunk-dial her ex-boyfriend. (Emma describes him as a slow burn that grows on you, and it's obvious from their first meeting that they'll end up together.) And Emma is vibrant, sexy, and funny, if a bit slow to launch out of her 20s. Their character development is downright moving, especially as they truly examine how the past relationships they're desperate to get back might not have been the right ones after all. Romcoms are easy to dismiss as formulaic and predictable, but I Want You Back is neither. Even though audiences may know the end game, the story is deeper and sweeter than is typical for the genre, without devolving into cheesy or sentimental. And that final scene? It's simply perfect.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about how substance use is portrayed in I Want You Back. Are there consequences for the drinking, smoking, and drug use? Why does that matter?
What do you think Emma means when she says she's looking for her "airplane safety mask person"? Do you think that's a healthy way to approach love?
Discuss how the main characters grow during the movie, and what they learn from their misguided scheme.
How do the characters express empathy? Why is that an important character strength?
Movie Details
- On DVD or streaming: February 11, 2022
- Cast: Charlie Day , Jenny Slate , Scott Eastwood , Gina Rodriguez
- Director: Jason Orley
- Inclusion Information: Female actors, Latino actors
- Studio: Amazon Studios
- Genre: Comedy
- Topics: Friendship
- Character Strengths: Empathy
- Run time: 111 minutes
- MPAA rating: R
- MPAA explanation: language, sexual material, some drug use and partial nudity
- Last updated: November 12, 2023
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