"I Want You Back" a funny, charming, clear-sighted romantic-dramedy

I Want You Back (2022)

Anyone who’s ever been in a long-term relationship—and then dumped or done the dumping—will probably relate to “I Want You Back.” But anyone who’s ever been the dumper or the dumpee probably hasn’t done what these characters do. Luckily, this is a shrewd, funny, and surprisingly perceptive romantic dramedy more in the vein of “When Harry Met Sally…” and particularly the 1997 Meg Ryan-Matthew Broderick gem “Addicted to Love.” For a movie in a genre that may rely the most on casting and chemistry, "I Want You Back" succeeds on both fronts, as well as delivering on both the rom and the com. 

Thirtysomething Emma (Jenny Slate) has been in her longest relationship with Noah (Scott Eastwood), a smoke show of a personal trainer. Then he breaks up with her for not having her life together. Peter (Charlie Day) has been with his girlfriend Anne (Gina Rodriguez), an English teacher, for more than six years, but she feels he’s too vanilla and complacent, so she dumps him. What are the odds that both Emma and Peter work in the same Atlanta building (Emma is a receptionist in an orthodontics office on the floor above Peter’s retirement-home company) and overhear each other sobbing in the stairwell? They commiserate together, calling each other “Sadness Sisters.” When they both bite the bullet and check their exes’ social media accounts, Peter sees that Anne is now with artistic, sexually adventurous Logan (Manny Jacinto), who teaches theater at Anne’s middle school, and Emma sees that Noah is now with Ginny (Clark Backo), a beautiful pie shop owner. A plan to get their partners back is hatched, “like ‘Cruel Intentions,’ only sexier,” where Emma will volunteer at Anne’s school and woo Logan, while Peter will start working out and become one of Noah’s clients and buddies. It’s got to work, right?

In lesser hands, “I Want You Back” could have unintentionally made its two scheming protagonists come off as sociopathic villains. Yes, fundamentally, a sabotage plan wouldn’t seem like the healthiest option for two freshly heartbroken people when there's therapy, and yet, Charlie Day and Jenny Slate are so likable that they pull it off. Murder, however, is off the table. To the credit of director Jason Orley (2020’s “Big Time Adolescence”) and writers Isaac Aptaker and Elizabeth Berger (2018’s “Love, Simon”), they do find an even keel between recognizable truths about compatibility in relationships and some of the wackier, comedically uncomfortable shenanigans that arise during Peter and Emma’s plan. Despite their respective ruses being played for laughs, these characters do have hang-ups that are taken seriously. For Peter, he never felt support from Anne in pursuing his longtime dream. As for Emma, she still has roommates and hasn’t progressed in her job, but it was all supposed to be temporary after a significant loss in her life. Even if they follow through with their scheme at first, these characters feel like human beings who can acknowledge that what they're doing is selfish and duplicitous. 

Watching Peter and Emma together, they just make the most sense as a couple if their plans fail. Charlie Day is endearing here, what with his trademark sandpaper rasp and even being a good sport when a young woman refers to him as everyone’s favorite chipmunk Alvin. Adorably funny and confidently quirky, Jenny Slate is just a treasure. They each have great comic timing and deliver emotionally delicate moments individually. Slate also shines in her nice interactions with tough 12-year-old Trevor (Luke David Blumm) as they work on the sets for the school’s version of “Little Shop of Horrors.” Other inspired touches: Emma stepping in as the poofy-haired Audrey to sing “Suddenly Seymour” for the dress rehearsal and this middle-school production retaining the original stage show’s bloody, unhappy ending.

The exes and their new partners aren't even judged or hemmed in as bad people. Scott Eastwood is appealing as Noah, and his easygoing bromantic interactions with Day asks more from the traditionally handsome actor than previous roles have. Gina Rodriguez brings a few extra layers to Anne, who isn’t just a demanding shrew but not as secure in risk-taking and spontaneity as much as she tells herself. Manny Jacinto gets to be bohemian-sexy as Logan, and while Clark Backo gets no real chance to flesh out Ginny besides being quite the baker and letting her boyfriend go out to a club for a guys’ night, she is a lovely find. 

An all-too-rare R-rated romantic comedy, “I Want You Back” is verbally honest without ever feeling forced. It’s more structured than improv-heavy as many studio comedies tend to be, but it decidedly feels more natural and character-based than stringently formulaic. Getting to the “will they or won’t they?” destination almost makes one second-guess how things will end up, until a final scene that's perfectly sweet without being a too-tidy, dusted-off-hands resolution. In the end, though, it’s the journey itself that makes “I Want You Back” fresh, charming, and even clear-sighted. A mainstream romantic comedy that’s not for dummies, what a concept!

Grade: B +

Amazon Studios is releasing “I Want You Back” (111 min.) to stream on Prime Video on February 11, 2022.