Ah, the time travel rom com. 15+ movies and counting. The concept of time and romantic connection has long since been studied and run into the ground using time travel as the conceit. However, if well executed, the movie can still be fun and maybe even slightly perceptive. When We First Met is a tale of two halves of a movie, but in general its a perfectly pleasant way to spend a Sunday evening Netflix and chilling with your significant other.
One magical night in 2014, Noah (Adam Devine) met Avery (Alexandra Daddario). The two galavanted from parties to bars to Avery’s house, where Noah got the dreaded hug instead of a hook up. Cut to three years later, and Noah drunkenly sobs through Avery and Ethan’s (Robbie Amell) engagement party. After Noah drunkenly suggests to friends Carrie (Shellie Hennig) and Max (Andrew Bachelor) that he had he done something different, he could have ended up with Avery as he wanted. While taking drunken photos in his and Avery’s photo booth, Adam wakes back up in 2014 on that magical night, this time thinking he can really get the girl of his dreams.
The first half of When We First Met is an exercise in repeating the past, ironic for a movie whose plot is trying to do the opposite. You’ll all recognize Noah’s plans to craft the perfect meet cute with Avery as Groundhog Day Lite. Adam Devine, sadly, lacks the acting chops of Bill Murray, so Devine’s ability to sell all the scenes differently just doesn’t cut it, and we get bored after a while. The movie spends a little too much time in each scenario beat for beat hitting the same notes, so we grow more and more tired of what we are watching, waiting for Avery and Noah to end up together.
Now, I won’t spoil it, but around 2/3 of the way through, I was just kinda rolling my eyes halfway paying attention, and When We First Met takes a well staged and clever turn. At first, I thought the turn was a stretch, but when you look back, it fits quite well. After the turn, the beats suddenly change a lot, and the movie starts telling a different story. This part of the story takes twists and turns aplenty, and I found myself going “Hmm….oh yeah, nice!” and moving closer to my computer screen. You’ll find yourself eagerly then awaiting where the story ends, which is NOT clear with the movie’s set up. Though not revolutionary, there is enough of a freshness in John Wittington’s script that will make the tired premise feel at least partly fun and enjoyable again.
When We First Met is a perfectly fine, respectable movie. It’s less self-serious than Nicholas Sparks, but not as clever as Harold Ramis or Richard Linklater. Sometimes a perfectly fine rom com is all you need to have a lovely evening, and When We First Met will give you what you want without messing with your head or beating you with tears. I hope this leads to the spinoff TV sitcome: Time Traveling Photo Booth!