Starring: Anna Kendrick, Jeremy Jordan
The Last Five Years
Director: Richard LaGravenese
Rating: 3/5
Richard LaGravenese returns to the director's chair this week as he tackles his first musical with The Last Five Years. The movie is based on the popular off-Broadway show and brings JasonRobert Brown's lyrics and score to the big screen for the first time.
The Last Five Years follows the highs and lows of a five-year relationship and is told almost entirely through song. Filled with the lively energy of New York City's cultural milieu, the film tells the story of the five-year relationship between rising novelist Jamie Wellerstein (Jordan) and struggling actress Cathy Hyatt (Kendrick).
As Jamie's new novel vaults him to the top of the literary scene, Cathy is still doing summer stock in Ohio, and their diverging levels of success pose pressing and dire challenges to their love. The film tells Cathy's side of the story in reverse order, starting from the end of their marriage, while Jamie's version of events begins when the couple first meets.
The Last Five Years is quite an interesting and intense musical as it explores a relationship like no other movie in this genre does. It looks at the early stage of love, when love is good, when love is bad, and when on career in the relationship is rising faster than the other and the pressure that brings.
This is a very heart-breaking and human story that we can all relate to and director LaGravenese never loses sight of that fact. Of course, this is a movie almost completely told in song and while there are some great musical numbers to admire, the relationship between Cathy and Jamie never takes a back seat or plays second fiddle.
As you would expect, Anna Kendrick is just terrific as Cathy as she one again shows off just how terrific a singer she is. This is the second of third musical movies for Kendrick this year - we have already seen her in Into The Woods and Pitch Perfect 2 is on the horizon.
Jeremy Jordan is also terrific as Jamie. He may not have as much big screen experience as Kendrick, but his theatre background sure has come in handy. His vocal is just as strong and Kendrick's and together they really do make the musical numbers fizz.
While the non-linear structure can be a little confusing at times, it is great that LaGravenese has stuck with the original structure of the musical and not tried to change it and make it into something that it is not for the big screen.
Hard-core fans of the musical will be pleased to see that the split timeline structure is still in place. However, this is a musical that will not be to the taste of everyone.
The score has always been a real strong point of this musical and Jason Robert Brown's work really does fit nicely on the big screen - and when you have Kendrick and Jordan blasting out your songs, you cannot really complain.
The Last Five Years is unlike any other musical that you will see this year and I like that the director stuck with the unusual structure and didn't try to mix it up to much for the film.
Kendrick and Jordan really do deliver great and honest performances in a movie that explores some really interesting ideas and themes about love and romance. This is a must see for fans of the musical genre.