FRIDAY NIGHT MOVIE REVIEW: “Before We Go,” which stars Chris Evans (Captain America: Winter Soldier, Snowpiercer), Alice Eve (Star Trek Into Darkness, She’s Out of My League), Emma Fitzpatrick (The Social Network, In Time), and Mark Kassen (Jobs, Puncture). It is directed by Chris Evans and is written by Ronald Bass (Entrapment, Rain Man), Jen Smolka (The Good Cook [Short], Boomsday), Chris Shafer (Playing It Cool, A Boy Named Shel), and Paul Vicknair (Playing It Cool). Two strangers run into each other in New York City. One, a musician (Evans), decides to help the other find her purse since she needs to get back to Boston before her husband. This sends the two on a journey that will help themselves deal with past problems.

With this being he first feature film directed by Chris Evans, I was curious to see it. Sure, the poster and trailer detail a Romance-like adventure, but I was willing to give it a chance for Evans, who apparently wants to direct more after getting a taste of the action. After watching this, I must say that I was impressed. The movie was pretty good, with interesting chemistry amongst the two leads and a story worth seeing unfold. Taking place in New York City, we witness two individuals with seemingly broken pasts running into each other, launching a journey of self-discovery and how to get over one’s issues. I liked the approach, being as how it steers away from the typical romance genre, and I was actually glued to the screen from the moment it began. The acting itself was good, and the dialogue pushes them over enough to get hooked into their development. When talking about their development, there is a lot to pick apart, even though it’s basic. In watching this, I didn’t find anything too original with the plot, as we have seen this kind of stuff before, especially when you learn of what the problems with the characters are. However, I couldn’t help but enjoy what I was seeing, because the writers approached this with caution. Nothing was force fed nor were the characters obnoxiously trying to get with one another, no matter how much you knew it would happen. It’s simply a wild chase to find a woman’s purse, while learning of the characters along the way. I would say that it’s predictable, but there were some aspects of the figures that you had to wait to learn of, and I think that’s the best part. Out of the two characters, I would say that Evans’ would be the best to see develop. He was the most mysterious, and his problem was the most relatable. One of the best scenes of the release involved him trying to confront his fears, because of the stakes and anxiety of the situation. Speaking of Evans, his directing was not too shabby. He seems to have a style, using an often wobbly camera that places itself at many different angles, usual in close-up. It reminded me of how television shows are directed. I could tell that it would split the audience, since it was hard to get used to at the beginning, but after a while it blended quite well with the narrative, and I ended up enjoying it. Throughout the feature, I didn’t find really any jarring problems. You can’t say that it was the most inventive, but there wasn’t anything I could say that I hated about it…until I reached the ending. Something I noticed when reading the reviews for this film is how a majority of the viewers disliked the conclusion, stating that it did not work with the story or was not happy. In cinema, I don’t need a happy ending for every movie; it’s not something I desire every film to have, so I went ahead and watched this anyway. In my opinion, the ending is extremely difficult to pin down. I give the writers props for going against the flow, but I don’t feel like the ending is what this story deserved. I found it distasteful as to how our characters ended up because it felt like the wrong decision to make. Without going into any spoilers, Pete’s story arc was wrapped up nicely, while Brooke’s (Eve) final say felt unorthodox. The writers blended the predictable and the actual approach to the ending together, formulating something that made little sense. Also, the final scene furthered the reasoning as to why it doesn’t fit. For a while, I was thinking of giving this a great score, but once the ending left a sour taste in my mouth, I had to drop it. It’s still a respectable score, nonetheless, but it could’ve achieved greater heights if it just knew how to conclude in a way that works with the story. FINAL SCORE: 84%= Juicy Popcorn

Here is the trailer: