My title is a quote from the character Simon about a bow tie. If you stretch your imagination a bit, you could think of these two movies that way. I'm a fan of Ashley Williams so I was ready to enjoy the pair of movies no matter what.
The hook in this movie is the multiple relationships. The story is nothing great. Have to sell our family ________ (movie theatre). The lead couple are working together to repair it. The premise is especially a bit of a stretch which is where "ridiculous" comes in. In this movie, the family relationships are just as significant as any romance. The sisters (real life sisters) love each other and it shows. Jennifer's son, Simon, forms a kind of fraternal bond with Eric's much younger daughter. Plus Meg and Jennifer's parents. There is a romance story, but it has to share the spotlight with all the other things.
I would think the story encompassing both movies could have been squeezed into one movie. As it is, the sister movie (yes it's a pun) steals several scenes from this one while a few of the same events are shot from different perspectives and maybe changed slightly. The stories run parallel and the other movie continues a little past the ending of this one. But combining the two into one who have squeezed everything a bit too much.
There's a lot of fun and energy in both movies. It's strange, but I don't think the two movies should be separated, but it also creates some confusion a little like mental whiplash. Also, while this movie is broader than a simple romance, the second movie is a little more focused on the corresponding romance.
I liked both movies, but not as much as I anticipated. I got the fun and energy I expected, but as another reviewer said, it's kind of all over the place. The two movies together use a lot of the common tropes which are overused this time of year. On the other hand, the parallel stories and how they are combined give a different feel to it. When it comes down to it, I think each person's enjoyment will be influenced by their predisposition to the two main actresses.
