Review // The Last Five Years

Richard LaGravenese brings the off-broadway hit musical The Last Five Years to the big screen. The strong script paired with the powerhouse cast of Anna Kendrick and Tony nominated Jeremy Jordan results in an innovative movie-going experience.

The film chronicles the five year relationship of Jamie (Jordan) and Cathy (Kendrick) the film begins at the end with Cathy lamenting about coming home to their New York City walk up to find Jamie’s Dear John letter waiting for her. Then the film quickly jumps to the very start of their relationship where we meet Jamie for the first time excited about finally landing the girl of his dreams. The film masterfully jumps from significant moment to moment within the five year relationship – the happy times, the hard times, and just the everyday times that result in an almost therapeutic look at how the relationship slowly crumbles.

The idea of telling a story from dual perspectives in a nonlinear timeline seems daunting – but LaGarvenese is able to transition from scene to scene and quickly establish mood and moment in time. If you’re able to keep up with the non-chronological time line, then the story unfolds like a mystery. You know at the start of the film the relationship’s over. It looks like Cathy is crushed and Jamie’s a jerk, but then you meet Jamie and he seems like a good guy with the whole world ahead of him. You want to know what killed this relationship. Don’t worry, I’m not going to say.

The film is essentially a two man show and Kendrick and Jordan are wonderful. I’ve watched Pitch Perfect, I know Kendrick can sing, but I had no idea she was this good. I hadn’t heard of Jeremy Jordan before so he was a wild card going in, but now I’m renting Joyful Noise just to hear him sing again. Guiding their incredible performances are the songs. Great original music and lyrics from the original musical’s scribe Jason Robert Brown. There is very little dialogue, everything that is said is pretty much sung, so the songs are incredibly important. There are soulful pieces filled with anguish and confusion, whimsical numbers of love and adventure and some fun pop to lighten the mood.

The Last Five Years is a bit heartbreaking, but it’s a good film with great music. Not exactly a good time, but a good watch nonetheless.

Reviewed by Vithiya Murugadas.