Alexandra Daddario is the faux-female lead for the Netflix Original Film “When We First Met,” and that was all I needed to sit down and watch it. The rest of the cast includes Adam Devine as the male lead, Shelley Henning, "Green Arrow’s" younger brother and King Bach of Vine. With a Metascore of only 35, it would be safe to assume this movie sucks donkey dick. But just like the Double D’s is Daddario’s name, the movie is actually Doubly Delightful.
The opening of the film is the premise of a J. Geils song;
“You love her, but she loves him. ”
After Noah (Devine) decides he’s Tom Hanks in “Big” and makes a wish, the magical time booth (not the same as Zoltar, but it’s the same idea so just roll with it) takes him three years into his past so he can win over Avery (Daddario) the girl of his dreams starting with the first time they met; the Halloween party.
The twist of the movie comes with the following morning after each time jump; whatever persona Noah used in order to win Avery over in his re-do, shapes who he will become when he catches back up to present day.
The movie begins where Noah is at the engagement party of Avery and Ethan (Amell) which is what leads him to make his wish. So the following morning, he wakes up and it’s 2014, but before he realizes this, he runs into Avery’s roommate Carrie (Henning). This moment being before they met, she doesn’t know him and thinks he’s crazy.
He gives no thought to their encounter after he learns it’s 2014 and it’s his chance to do it all over. He goes to the Halloween party and turns up the charm. Noah has all the right answers and knows everything Avery is thinking. But then when he gets back to her place, Carrie recognizes him from earlier in the day, thinking he’s a stalker. So she and Avery proceed to beat the shit out of him until he wakes up, again in 2017.
Noah goes to apologize for leaving the engagement party early, thinking the time travel was just a dream. When he shows up, however, Avery freaks out screaming he’s the stalker from three years earlier. The light bulb goes off and he realizes he did, in fact, travel back to their first meeting. So he makes the wish again.Max (King Bach) offers him cool guy advice, and this time, he wins over Avery. Then he wakes up in present time, apparently only being a routine one-night stand with her.
Douchebag Noah now seeks advice from Carrie, who says Avery wants a guy she can have a future with. He makes the wish again, gets his act together and becomes a stable guy. Back to the present, it’s their engagement party. But Avery and Ethan are still in love with each other in this version as well.
He realizes Avery will never love him, and again speaks with Carrie. He goes back again to make sure Ethan and Avery get together. During the party this time, he realizes everything he loved about Avery was things that she only knew of because of Carrie.
While he plays Cupid (literally, it’s the costume he wears this time) to Ethan and Avery, he falls in love with Carrie.Only this time, when the present day comes, he still ends up unhappy. Despite his perfect night with Carrie, they aren’t together. Confused and saddened, he realizes that everything worked out the way it was supposed to, he just wasn’t paying attention to what the universe was showing him with Carrie, because he was too hung up over Avery.
He goes back one more time and does everything exactly as he had initially. And then, at Avery and Ethan’s engagement party, he leaves early once more with Carrie, and then the film ends to pictures throughout their relationship (she’s a photographer in the movie, hence the photos).
Doesn’t that warm your heart? Noah went out of his way for 3 years just to wait for his chance with Carrie. Imagine carrying that around for 3 years! Dating sucks, and relationships are hard, even if you’re dealing with something for only 3 days. I really loved that implication. Sure, “When We First Met” follows clichés, but it has a few twists and by the time you get to the end, it’s a really sweet movie.
Adam Devine is a good lead; he shed’s his usually crazy guy persona, and instead plays a heartfelt, relatable character. He and Shelley Henning have great chemistry together. While it isn’t the Cadillac of romantic comedies, a 35 Metascore is unfair. It’s pacing is quick, has funny dialogue and most importantly, it has heart.
Maybe it’s superficial at times, and maybe it burdened with clichés so those scenes are lost on some viewers. But capturing heart is hard, and this movie definitely has its moments when that heart shines through.
Go give it a watch! At the least, “When We First Met” will make you re-evaluate all of your relationships and missed opportunities, doesn’t that sound like fun!
