Written and Directed by: Dan Fogelman
Being an admirer of Dan Fogelman, the creator of This is Us and the writer of Crazy, Stupid, Love, I had huge expectations from this film. This film worked for me for the 1st 40-45 minutes, till the point where we see the first two chapters. There on, it felt like there was too much to take in a film. The first chapter was terrific, it would work even as a short. It is classic Dan Fogelman, characters being madly in love, and then facing some trouble and coming to terms with their feelings. I loved the way he talks to the therapist, the contrast between who he was and who he became because he lost the love of his life. And I liked the idea of how this one event impacted a lot of lives, by the way they explore each of their backstories - it's an innovative narrative style. But I just felt like they overdid the idea - to a point where the style overtook the substance, and this is usually unlikely for the work of Dan Fogelman, because his work is usually very high on feelings and emotions. It almost felt like an anthology, but without any underlying theme.
Nevertheless, I really enjoyed the opening bit. Even though it was just for a short while, it had a lot of depth. He explored a whole lifetime in about less than an hour, by making vignettes of the defining moments of their lives - how they met, how they hit it off, how he asks her out. One of my favorite lines in this film is what he says when his girlfriend asks him about when he's going to ask her out - for me, that one response of him made watching the whole film worth it. He says, I'm waiting for the right moment, because that's going to be the most important of my life, everything is going to change after that, I'm just waiting for the right moment. Classic Dan Fogelman stuff.
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