鈥淚t Ends With Us鈥 looks like it has been around for years.
The corny plot, the gauzy settings and the oh-so-questionable link to the past conspire to remind us of similar films we actually liked.
And then it goes on too long and we realize it鈥檚 not the dream scenario we thought.
Like any number of Nicholas Sparks stories, it swirls around a soft-focus life.
Blake Lively plays Lily Bloom, a free-spirited woman (of course) who opens a flower shop in Boston, befriends a neurosurgeon and seems to be headed for the ultimate life of happiness.
The shop is a hit (it鈥檚 featured in a magazine!), Lily鈥檚 best friend is a hoot and that relationship with the surgeon? It blossoms 鈥 but so, too, does his temper.
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When Ryle (Justin Baldoni, who also directed) is triggered, he flies off the handle and slugs the woman in his life.
She tries to overlook his tendencies but when a man from her past (who was involved in an earlier abuse situation) returns, anything is possible.
Justin Baldoni stars in and directs "It Ends with Us."聽
Baldoni takes his time letting this unfurl and gives Lively plenty of opportunity to look like Kate Hudson鈥檚 younger sister. They鈥檙e constantly going someplace and when he鈥檚 not in scrubs, he鈥檚 in cashmere.
His sister (Jenny Slate), meanwhile, is the kookie one who doesn鈥檛 need the money but enjoys looking like Rhoda in Mary Tyler Moore鈥檚 sitcom. She plays sounding board for Lily and, when necessary, fluffs up arrangements in the Anthropologie-like store.
聽Blake Lively stars in "It Ends with Us."聽
When they happen to see Lily鈥檚 old fling at a restaurant, Ryle becomes suspicious and soon we鈥檙e off on one of those jealousy hunts. What doesn鈥檛 make sense is how quickly Lily warms to the guy she hasn鈥檛 seen in decades. She doesn鈥檛 know much about those intervening years, just that he used to be homeless, and she gave him food and a place to sleep.
Now, of course, she鈥檚 eager to rekindle the relationship and not say anything to the neurosurgeon.
While Baldoni doesn鈥檛 hold back in telling us about Lily鈥檚 past (her dad, you see, was abusive, too), he doesn鈥檛 quite handle that relationship with Atlas 鈥 the homeless guy 鈥 in a way that would make sense. Was there no attempt at contact in the intervening years? Why are the two starting businesses in the same city at the same time? Why does the 鈥渨hat happened then鈥 become so crucial now?
Based on Colleen Hoover鈥檚 best seller, 鈥淚t Ends With Us鈥 spills its secrets before it even gets going. (The title alone should be a clue.) It isn鈥檛 afraid, however, to make the abusive life seem less threatening than it actually is. The 鈥測eah, buts鈥 are stacked like so many vases and practically tumble while Lively makes like Sharon Stone in any number of 鈥90s films. It鈥檚 easy to see how she might cut him a break after one incident. But two? Three? More?
Until a crucial confrontation scene, 鈥淚t Ends With Us鈥 suggests too many outs for comfort. Lively doesn鈥檛 reveal the most important stories in her life and ends up reliving them. Baldoni鈥檚 character keeps his cards close to the vest, too.
When everyone learns as much we鈥檙e already 90 minutes into this situation wondering how the director can stretch it another 40 minutes.
Easily, 鈥淚t Ends With Us鈥 is too long even with flashbacks. It should have included crucial discussions and a coda that explains how well everyone is doing five, 10 years later. As is, it鈥檚 like the stage version of 鈥淲aitress鈥 without the songs.
