Directed by Ari Sandel, When We First Met is a 2018 rom-com starring Adam DeVine, Alexandra Daddario and Robbie Amell. Noah (DeVine) is still in love with his friend Avery (Daddario), despite Avery’s engagement to Ethan (Amell). By passing out in a photo both Noah and Avery used on the night they met, Noah awakens three years earlier, on the morning he first met Avery, with the goal of making Avery fall in love with him instead.
+ both leads, Adam DeVine and Alexandra Daddario, are just fantastic. I’m a huge fan of Daddario (for more than just her being incredibly gorgeous), and DeVine always surprises me, almost to the fact that I shouldn’t be surprised when he is so good. Both DeVine and Daddario play various ‘versions’ of their characters throughout the film, and it is always enjoyable to understand their changes
+ supporting cast Ethan (Amell), Avery’s housemate Carrie (Shelly Hennig) and Noah’s friend Max (Andrew Bacholer) are also likable characters. Carrie, in particular, has a pleasant change throughout the movie, in line with what the plot would dictate (if that makes sense – your opinion will change as things become clearer)
+ there are lots of laughs, mostly from DeVine as you’d expect, but there are also many genuinely heartwarming moments between various couplings of characters. The characters all seem to evolve naturally, rather than one character having a big long speech as is often the case in these movies
+ maybe “twist” isn’t the right word, but the resolution is one I don’t think I’ve seen before in this type of movie. I was a refreshing change
> Robbie Amell and Andrew Bachelor were both recently in The Babysitter, which I reviewed here. There is no connection between the movies, I just thought it was an interesting note, and I don’t think they even shared a scene in this movie
Should you see this film: For a film somewhere between Hot Tub Time Machine and Groundhog Day, this was a pleasant surprise. Despite there being no negatives listed above, I can’t say this will tickle everyone’s fancy, but DeVine and Daddario were great, Amell and Hennig were really solid, and overall this was a great way to spend a ‘random Netflix night’.
MoshFish Reviews 