Somebody I Used to Know Review

Streaming review

In the time right before the pandemic hit through the easing of restrictions, there was a trend labeled The Great Resignation. Some left because they didn’t feel like the compensation was commensurate with the amount of work they were doing and they went searching for some place that would appreciate them better. And some were leaving jobs that were no longer fulfilling them, searching for something more satisfying. I was struck by some of these themes while watching Dave Franco’s “Somebody I Used to Know” currently streaming on Amazon Prime.

Ally (Alison Brie) is a documentarian turned reality show host. At the end of the third season of her television show, she finds out that the network is canceling it. As she scrambles to figure out what she will do moving forward, she decides to go back to her hometown to visit her mom and rest a bit. 

While in her hometown, she reconnects with her old ex Sean (Jay Ellis). They have a fun day, running around her old stomping grounds, but when she shows up at his house unannounced the next day to see if they can rekindle something, she discovers he is days away from his marriage to Cassidy (Kiersey Clemons). Despite the warnings of her old friend Benny (Danny Pudi), Ally wants to see if the old spark is still there.

If you’re thinking that this sounds an awful lot like the 1997 romantic comedy classic, “My Best Friend’s Wedding,” don’t worry. Even the movie references that. But while the bones are similar, this is not that movie. I kind of think of “Somebody I Used to Know” as that movie, but with some characters who are actually fleshed out.

All of the actors in this were great. I loved seeing Brie and Pudi back together. I don’t know if they were friends back in the “Community” days, but they certainly had an amazing chemistry. Clemons is effortlessly cool, and Ellis hits a nice balance of infuriating and relatable. 

The story is really where this worked for me. I am an unabashed fan of the rom-com genre and when it subverts expectations well, it just thrills me. I felt like this hit everything beautifully. I loved all of the different interactions throughout the movie and the final thesis was just perfect. I will admit that the story wraps up a little too neatly at the end, but I’ll be honest, I expect that from a rom-com, so it didn’t bother me very much.

More than anything, I appreciated how this movie wrestled with the discontent that we can feel as we age and aren’t sure we’re happy with how one aspect of our life is going and how that spills over into other areas. Do we upend everything? Or do we need to sit with that displeasure and figure out how to fix it? The answer might not be the same for everyone, but this movie reminds us that it’s probably not too late to figure it out.

This review originally appeared in The Dominion Post on February 18, 2023.