WHEN WE FIRST MET (NETFLIX) (2018)

SYNOPSIS: Using a magical photo booth that sends him back in time, Noah relives the night he met Avery over and over, trying to persuade her to fall for him. 

MOVIE REVIEW:

With Valentine’s Day round the corner, Netflix’s latest original rom-com, When We First Met is Groundhog Day meets Back to the Future although the time-travelling part is not exactly discerning. It’s basically a nonsensical comedy about laying your hands on your dream girl instead of life consequences in case you are wondering.

The movie opens with Noah (Adam Devine from Pitch Perfect and Mike and Adam Need Wedding Dates) starring blankly at his crush, Avery (Alexandra Daddario from Baywatch) getting engaged to hunky Ethan (Robbie Amell). It turned out that Noah has a shot at being Avery’s boyfriend at a Halloween party three years ago. However, the night ended when Avery declared Noah as her best guy friend thus instantly crushing Noah’s dream.  

When Noah accidentally discover an old photo booth in the jazz club he is working at has the ability to send him back in time, Noah decides to win back Avery from the clutches of Ethan by continuously sending himself back after every failed attempt.

For the record, there’s nothing inventive or original about When We First Met. The entire story is clobber together from nearly every time travel movies from the past years, there’s even a Big homage if you are old enough to be familiar with the 80’s Tom Hanks comedy. Still, leading man Adam Devine is such a smooth operator that you wouldn’t mind tagging along with this goofball. Watching him being smashed by a tree, sing and play jazz and being an asshole is far more entertaining than the whole premise.  

Despite being a middling effort, there’s a sweet, endearing turn around for Noah in the last act. Real-life relationships don’t always have a perfect ending, don’t they? When We First Met is the sort of perfect movie for Netflix. It’s too expensive to screen this budgeted title on the big screen plus no one will bother to pick this one on DVD thus streaming is the only best way especially for those who wish to spend Valentine’s Day on a budget.

MOVIE RATING:

Review by Linus Tee