A quien solía conocer

This one's really weird with a pretty predictable storyline. I think this is the first movie where the wronged party (the fiancee) literally provides the so-called heroine with ALL of the ammunition to use against her. Who does that?! While this one has shades of My Best Friend's Wedding, the big difference is that you really don't get invested in any of the characters because none of them are likeable. I just didn't feel the love with any part of this triangle. It was all overly contrived. It's also extremely uncomfortable how the fiance has told EVERYBODY in town her business in the short 6 months she's dated this guy and they're all passing it around like party favors on the eve of the wedding. Every time we see the ex-girlfriend stalking the couple like chewed up, spit out karmic gum on a shoe while pretending to be a videographer, it makes less and less sense. If the groom didn't get rid of her, the bride-to-be should have made it clear that she was NOT welcomed. Note to anyone confused: You should NOT be at your ex's wedding as a single. That's not about insecurity, it's about the energy especially when she looks like a thirsty stripper in every scene. Even a couple of so-called emotional scenes can't save this one. And why was the lesbian hint thrown in?? Too much stuff in the soup without enough quality ingredients. On the bright side, it is a little bit better than Shotgun Wedding. Not by much though.

This is a sweet little movie. I think it just started playing on Prime and Alison Brie pulled me in. All the acting is good here. The dialogue is more realistic than the usual rom-com, and I didn't need to suspend disbelief as much as I usually do in this genre. It really shouldn't even go in the rom com bucket but marketing didn't know how else to sell it. Forget the labels. Yes, there's a my-best-friend's-wedding vibe, but, in a moment of self awareness, this is even addressed in a joke. The characters are likable, even the slightly shady Sean. Ally and Cassidy have authentic exchanges as two women supposedly at odds, but finding a lot of commonality. I love a coming-to-mutual respect scene topped off with a celebratory streaking! I was so pleasantly surprised by this one, it makes me wonder, why the other low ratings? Sure, some of these plot points are familiar. Yes, trying to break up a wedding last minute is cringy, but we're living in a Fast n Furious franchise world here. I don't care if we can go watch cars fly... I'm watching brain cells fly right outta my head with those ones. Franco and Brie's movie is for fun and ultimately has a great message. A sweet little movie a try next time you could use a feel good moment.

As a principal character pointed out with an on-the-nose observation in an early scene, this 2023 romcom felt like a familiar rehash of the Julia Roberts 1997 vehicle, "My Best Friend's Wedding". This time, Ally, a reality show producer faces a career crisis and comes home to rural Washington to connect with her old flame Sean from a decade ago only to discover he's getting married to a younger woman Cassidy who is facing her own challenges in abandoning her burgeoning rock music career for marriage. Showing her signature spunk with comic aplomb as Ally, Alison Brie co-wrote the screenplay with her husband Dave Franco who directed. Despite some sharp jabs at reality TV at the outset, their plot follows a predictable path with the characters acting just as you'd expect in their respective predicaments. Jay Ellis is given little to do but act moony or confused as Sean. Kiersey Clemons fares better as Cassidy who recognizes her affinity with Ally. Julie Hagerty displays her trademark ditziness as Ally's sexually active mom, while a still recognizable Haley Joel Osment energetically plays a family friend who is an irritating pop culture geek.

Ally (Alison Brie) runs a superficial reality-TV show. When it gets canceled, she feels empty and decides to go home to visit her mother. She runs into her ex Sean (Jay Ellis) whom she dumped to go to Hollywood. She starts questioning her choosen path.

This starts like a Hallmark rom-com. I didn't get Alison Brie doing something like that. My hopes got raised with the two "That B". I thought it was Game On. Instead, the story chooses a sincere and sweeter path. It's more than Hallmark, but still very much a version of rom-com. Brie is the co-writer with husband Dave Franco and he's directing.

"Somebody I Used to Know" is slightly better than other Amazon rom-com efforts but still falls flat. What charm this movie has is mostly driven by grounded characters + the cast and lead's solid chemistry. Other than that it basically follows the bad romcom formula to a T:

• The 'likeable'/'relatable' lead character is actually unlikable due to their abhorrent actions
• It is mostly directionless and relies heavily on ridiculous drama driven by characters refusing to communicate. Outside of Ally there is basically no organic character/relationship development
• It heavily relies on childish gross-out/nudity/sex driven humor that isn't funny if you're over the age of 15

All of the above combined with a 15 minute too long runtime and the writers thinking people in their mid-30s acting like teenagers is somehow charming results in something 'watchable' but not very engaging.

If you liked Community you might enjoy the novelty of seeing Alison Brie and Danny Pudi on screen again. Otherwise, there's not much point in watching this.