Somebody I Used To Know (2023)

You think you know what you want when you’re a teenager/in your early twenties. You have an idea about your dream job, where you want to live, and if you’re in a relationship, you know that you want to spend your life with your boyfriend/girlfriend.

However, as we all know, life can take unexpected turns. The job might be different than you thought it would be, you might have split up with your partner or you might not be as far in life as you want to be. That’s what “Somebody I Used to Know” by director Dave Franco (“The Rental”) is about.

While this movie can count on great chemistry between the actors and great inspiration (it’s based on “My Best Friend’s Wedding”), it doesn’t fully become the film about (self) love it could have been.

Ally (Alison Brie) has left her hometown, Leavenworth, Ore., for Hollywood to become a successful television producer. While she succeeds in that, she always has to or wants to put work first, but when her popular television show is cancelled, Ally realizes it might be time to take more care of herself.

To try and figure out what she wants in life, she heads home to visit her mother (Julie Hagerty). Leavenworth is totally different from Hollywood. The busy bars make place for almost deserted ones, and immense forests and relaxing rivers are replacing the sky-high buildings. It’s also where Sean (Jay Ellis), Ally’s ex, lives and when the former couple bumps into each other, Ally begins to think that Leavenworth and its people might be more important to her than she initially thought.

As mentioned before, this movie took a lot of inspiration from “My Best Friend’s Wedding”, which becomes apparent when Sean’s fiancé, Cassidy (Kiersey Clemons), is introduced. Despite having not seen Sean for ages, Ally does everything she can to win him back, even if that means playing a dirty game with his soon-to-be wife.

While “My Best Friend’s Wedding” is a great film to take inspiration from, “Somebody I Used to Know” feels much more forced than the 1997 film. This is mainly due to the slow pacing and the predictable plots. If the movie had been much more original, the tepid tempo wouldn’t have been such a big problem.

The plot doesn’t only have some pacing issues, but it also feels a bit underdeveloped and unfinished. Some storylines aren’t fully explored, for example, one of the characters talking about their sexual orientation. This topic is briefly mentioned during the movie and is only highlighted to create confusion. It would have been much better if this was a more significant part of the story.

Also, when writing the script for this film, Franco and co-writer Brie clearly had a big third-act twist in mind, but what a shame they failed to execute it properly. Because of this, the movie because a formulaic and cliched rom-com.

Despite those plot issues, the stunning cast members put on lovely performances. As usual, Brie (“The Disaster Artist”, “Promising Young Woman”) puts on an intriguing, emotional and relatable performance. She ensures that we feel that her character is finally looking for herself instead of looking for love.

Likewise, Ellis (“Top Gun: Maverick”, “Escape Room”) is perfectly cast as Sean, who cares about the two women in his life but who’s also torn between them. Ellis certainly knows how to bring a lot of charisma, emotions and funniness to this movie. The chemistry between Brie and Ellis is fantastic and so is the one between Ellis and Clemons. This is also partly due to Clemons’ (“Susie Searches”, “Am I OK”) impressive performance as a singer and actress.

Also, the supporting actors and actresses do what they can to give their characters much more personality and depth than the script provides. As a result, the chemistry between everyone feels extremely genuine, and when watching the movie, it becomes clear that the filming must have been a wonderful experience for everyone. This doesn’t only results in beautiful acting but also a very light and vibrant atmosphere.

While the storyline about achieving your dreams, wanting to feel loved, and topics such as confidence, self-esteem and the freedom to live your own life, are the elements of a successful plot, the predictability level of this storyline is just too high. Luckily for “Somebody I Used to Know”, the movie becomes likeable due to the splendid performances and great chemistry.

“Somebody I Used to Know” is out now on Prime Video.