After Everything

Having been subjected to Nicholas Sparks's romantic sludge for years, I am pleased with a romantic drama that feels real and painful without hearts, flowers, or bottle messages. The brilliance of After Everything (fka Shotgun) is that writer/directors Hannah Marks and Joey Power keep sentimentality at bay while directing two fine actors, whose chemistry is astonishingly believable. It's the year's best romance.

Elliot (Jeremy Allen White), reminding me of Dustin Hoffman's Graduate look and persona, gets a life-defining diagnosis while meeting the girl of his dreams, Mia (Maika Monroe). Despite his bleak prognosis, they fall in love and marry. Of course, already the situation is unreal, but the characters are so sincerely in love that we become complicit in their seemingly skewered decision.

However, the film is dedicated to showing authentic love that sacrifices certainty for the abstract promise of everlasting love. And they love in a fetchingly warm connection that makes us forget he seems doomed to early death.

I'm not an overly-sentimental type, but After Everything is close to my perfect screen romance. It's real and touching without the dross that usually accompanies this type of drama. A date night-you bet!

This movie gives a simplified, candid, and episodic view of a relationship between two New Yorkers, one of whom is fighting a rare form of cancer. What I really liked is that the two main actors played it straight. There were no cheap jokes or exaggerated situations- it felt like a true depiction of how a fast relationship takes its course, showing both the triumphs and pitfalls.

Now I wasn't moved by this movie and it didn't cause me to think deeply about my life, but this was a refreshing film compared to a lot of works I've seen lately. The ending was cheap and abrupt, yet overall this was a pleasant picture.

How perfect was the first half going ... but the ending brother is very weird ...

I REALLY liked the first half of this movie. There was a lot of potential. The movie already moved at a fast pace but I felt like the second half was way too rushed.

It could have possibly worked better if the movie were longer but it just didn't work for me.

Then we get to the ending. What even was that?!

Again, MAYBE it could have worked if the movie was longer but ultimately, I felt ripped off.

Yes this general storyline has been used quite a bit lately it seems, but while not radically different this was unique enough to be intriguing. All aspects were well-done (writing, cinematography, acting, etc.), didn't try to be anything more than it is.