By: Jamie Steinberg
With Valentine’s Day on the horizon, Regretting You was poised to step in as the romantic drama viewers were in need of. Sadly, the weight of that crown was too much and the film fell short. Director Josh Boone’s adaptation of author Colleen Hoover (of It Ends With Us infamy) overwhelms with emotion and leaves viewers regretting watching.
Morgan (Allison Williams), her boyfriend Chris (Scott Eastwood), her sister Jenny (Willa Fitzgerald), and Jenny’s boyfriend Jonah (Dave Franco) are a tightly bonded group of friends poised to graduate from high school in the late 2000s. Jonah and Morgan seem to have more of a connection, but she does not notice Jonah harboring feelings until she finds herself pregnant with Chris’ baby. Seventeen years pass and their daughter, Clara (McKenna Grace), is set to graduate high school herself and venture off to college. Chris and Morgan find themselves middle-aged parents with Jenny and Jonah reuniting and having a child of their own. Unfortunately, a car accident exposes that Jenny and Chris have been having an affair and Morgan and Jonah are stuck in a new reality where they must find a way to move forward for the sake of Clara.
Boone’s film flails as it moves too fast from infidelity to finding new footing. Additionally, the Jonah, Jenny, Morgan and Chris love triangle is not so flushed out as viewers are not given insight into how long the affair was going on and why any of those involved ever stuck around since each person seemed to be harboring feelings for another. Also missing is the heart from the actors’ performances. The only true heart to the film seems to come from Grace and her on-screen romantic interest played by Mason Thames. The two seem to share a genuine connection and don’t feel overdramatic with their performances.
Hoover may be hoping to be the next Nicholas Sparks, but either the choice of screen adapters or directors appear to have her deviating from that dream. Missing is a deeply investible storyline that makes a movie a timeless rom-dram. This reviewer recommends sticking to the classics of the 80’s and 90’s and skipping Regretting You.