... which may not necessarily be a good thing.
Oddly, you divide the two almost at the midway point, that is, the one hour mark.
The first movie is a really sweet love story about lost love. It features a lot of flashbacks but luckily the actors playing the flashbacks and the actors playing 'real time' are all very competent, do a great job,the script works well, and the audience has a fun ride.
If the first hour were a movie on its own, I would give it a very strong rating.
However almost at the turn of the second hour (two hours BTW is much too long for this story) the connection between audience and viewer (this important factor discussed in many of my IMDb reviews) starts to fade as many story complications set in. And the script becomes lost in the various arcs.
I will not go into the complications but let me say that by the "climax" of the last Act the viewer may wonder if he/she dozed off and woke up in front of the TV watching an episode of JUSTIFIED. Enough said.
If the second hour were a movie on its own, I would give it a very low rating.
As an entire movie as it now stands, this film can be a rough ride for the viewer, and that is not a good thing.
Notes:
* always happy to see Michelle Monaghan, an actress under-used these days. Real star quality.
* Liana Liberato has a nice career ahead and better still actually looks like a young Michelle Monaghan, which is more than I can say of the casting choices for the male leads
* here is a tip for casting directors. FACIAL RECOGNITION SOFTWARE. Help you avoid the problem of casting two actors playing the same role (one in flashback) WHO LOOK NOTHING AT ALL LIKE EACH OTHER
Oddly, you divide the two almost at the midway point, that is, the one hour mark.
The first movie is a really sweet love story about lost love. It features a lot of flashbacks but luckily the actors playing the flashbacks and the actors playing 'real time' are all very competent, do a great job,the script works well, and the audience has a fun ride.
If the first hour were a movie on its own, I would give it a very strong rating.
However almost at the turn of the second hour (two hours BTW is much too long for this story) the connection between audience and viewer (this important factor discussed in many of my IMDb reviews) starts to fade as many story complications set in. And the script becomes lost in the various arcs.
I will not go into the complications but let me say that by the "climax" of the last Act the viewer may wonder if he/she dozed off and woke up in front of the TV watching an episode of JUSTIFIED. Enough said.
If the second hour were a movie on its own, I would give it a very low rating.
As an entire movie as it now stands, this film can be a rough ride for the viewer, and that is not a good thing.
Notes:
* always happy to see Michelle Monaghan, an actress under-used these days. Real star quality.
* Liana Liberato has a nice career ahead and better still actually looks like a young Michelle Monaghan, which is more than I can say of the casting choices for the male leads
* here is a tip for casting directors. FACIAL RECOGNITION SOFTWARE. Help you avoid the problem of casting two actors playing the same role (one in flashback) WHO LOOK NOTHING AT ALL LIKE EACH OTHER