I Want You Back

This is an article “I Want You Back” by Marc Primo

Release date: 11 February 2022 (United States)

Director: Jason Orley

Language: English

Production companies: The Safran Company, The Walk-Up Company

Producers: Isaac Aptaker, Elizabeth Berger, Peter Safran, John Rickard

Spoiler alert: Teenage rom-coms have flooded our movie streaming services and silver screens in recent years. Fortunately, the time has come for heart-torn audiences older than Generation Z to get excited about seeing themselves in an adult love story that, ironically, shows their immaturity toward relationships.

It's easy to note how this Charlie Day and Jenny Slate-starrer I Want You Back from Amazon Studios took a few pointers from the Rob Reiner-Nora Ephron classic When Harry Met Sally. And no one's complaining. In an age where the internet makes it easy to stalk old flames, Jason Orley's witty and often laugh-out-loud offering takes the platonic guy-girl relationship formula into new territory.

To many Slate fans, I Want You Back is a welcome treat after her performance in the 2014 hit Obvious Child. And seeing Charlie Day without his usual slapstick and loud deliveries that made him big in It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia aligns audiences with how the film wants its characters to grow up as their stories are told. What you see in the film are very human yet unique characters in a typical 30-something situation that are in over their heads trying to be clever. It's charming, funny, and enjoyable – best watched with ice cream and junk food.

A love-hate story

The movie starts with a cold opening that shows Pete (Day) and Emma (Slate) getting abruptly dumped by their significant others. Trying to get over her gym trainer ex, Noah (Scott Eastwood), Emma cries her eyes out every night by snuggling up beside her new bedside companion – a box of Cinnamon Toast cereals. Dumping whey protein powder in the sink to create a puffy cloud in an attempt to suffocate herself doesn't help, while the same goes for her snarky college roommates.

Meanwhile, after Pete's teacher girlfriend Anne (Gina Rodriguez) suddenly calls it quits and turns him from being the life of a children's party into a sorry excuse of a mess, bringing out their conjugal couch and taking up smoking seem to be reasonable courses of action. However, like Emma, Pete finds it necessary to keep tabs on his ex via social media. A move we all know is wrong, which they do anyway even if it kills them.

Working in the same building, the two meet in between floors of a secluded stairwell during their crying breaks. Having shared how they got dumped by their respective exes recently, the two strike up a friendship that soon spirals into a conniving plan to bring their exes back in their arms. Emma will be seducing Anne's new flame, a pretentious grade school drama teacher named Logan (Manny Jacinto). On the other hand, Pete will try to convince Noah that Emma is ‘the one’ instead of his present girlfriend, the gorgeous pastry owner Ginny (Clark Backo), by turning into Noah’s best gym pal.

From their karaoke night out to their non-conniving talks, it's easy for viewers to detect how Pete and Emma's chemistry slowly turns into a mix of vinegar and baking sodam – a solution meant to unclog the drains of unrequited love. Of course, a little boiling water is necessary to burn everyone.

The platonic formula

Understanding the dynamics at play between Pete and Emma's relationship requires us to go back to the Reiner-Ephron classic When Harry Met Sally. Most elements are there for both films, which all boils down to sharing a mutual friendship agreement and eventually breaking it in the end. But while Harry and Sally's maturity takes a 'slow cook' approach that spans over a decade, Pete and Emma's stays in pace with today's era of social media. That said, we still get to know the characters well, thanks to both Day and Slate's interesting conversations.

Taking a classical formula and reinventing it for modern audiences to appreciate might have been daunting for director Jason Orley and writers Isaac Aptaker & Elizabeth Berger. However, they managed to pull it off. Perhaps, the key to this type of formula is keeping things simple and finding humor in turning common problems into complicated scenarios. Despite a longer running time than necessary, the film spares audiences from dull moments and convinces them that it's a fun rollercoaster ride well worth taking.

Another thing that somehow works is the filmmakers’ ability to create passable laughs out of today's typical anti-romance situations. Emma suggests that Logan and Anne participate in a threesome with her; Pete and Noah get invited by strange girls to their orgy mansions and meet a drug pushing crew; and, as with many rom-coms that came before it, Emma attends her ex's wedding, seemingly oblivious to the impending disaster.

Then, there’s Pete and Emma who are able to draw audiences to their discussions, which is crucial to making the film's whole idea work. In one scene, filmmakers challenge viewers to take sides on whether a man should first put on his oxygen mask before helping his girl when in a plane crash scenario or vice versa. Girls will probably ask if chivalry is still breathing while guys will continue to wonder why girls fail to recognize practical solutions.

In the end, laying all the hilarity in the proper sequences and planting quote-worthy dialogues that work later on are the defining elements that both I Want You Back and When Harry Met Sally share.

Many things we want back in our rom-coms

In any case, Orley's new rom-com is far from being a total rip-off of the Reiner-Ephron classic. In fact, it seems to pay homage to both the genre and formula. I Want You Back presents a simple plot, fuels it with witty dialogue and hysterical situations, and then goes back to the seeds of the relationship.

While the film doesn't really offer rom-com fans anything new, it succeeds in showing us that old formulas still work regardless of how real life relationship dynamics have changed through the years. Either that, or simply because we miss those elements in our love stories. And yes, the plot borders on absurdity. It could have explored the catharsis born out of break-ups and new friendships a bit more, or the developed maturity that restarts one's life all over again, rather than sticking to the jokes. Yet, because I Want You Back succeeds in delivering loads of familiar fun, we can surely forgive it for its flaws.

If you want something profound, you better go back to your Amazon Prime’s menu button. However, if you are looking for light fun without being bothered about things going way too fast for the sake of laughs and romance, then go ahead and press that ‘play’ button.