THE LAST FIVE YEARS
DIRECTOR: Richard Lagrevenese
CAST: Anna Kendrick, Jeremy Jordan, Tamara Mintz, Cassandra Inman
CLASSIFICATION: 10-12PG LS
RUNNING TIME: 90 minutes
RATING: ***
It’s such a relief not to have to give spoiler warnings. The final tragedy of The Last Five Years is the breakup of a marriage, but it’s laid out in the first scene, because the movie begins at the end. Confusingly, it also ends at the end.
The structure is strange, but effective. The musical is the story of Cathy (Kendrick, pictured) and Jamie (Jordan), who fall in love, get married and drift apart. We see it from each of their perspectives, with Cathy’s retelling unfolding in reverse and Jamie’s following a traditional structure. So after our devastating introduction to Cathy, who has just read a Dear John letter, we’re launched back to the start of the couple’s courtship, which is filled with laughter, sex and possibility. The narratives cross paths the day they get engaged.
The Last Five Years is almost entirely sung. That guarantees only a niche appeal, which is a shame, because the music is gorgeous. The plot isn’t quite as intricate. The trouble begins almost at the start of the relationship, with Jamie’s writing career taking a stratospheric turn as Cathy, an actress, is struggling through a series of failed auditions.
Musicals aren’t always the most nuanced medium, but are an excellent way to tell stories about big highs and lows. When Jamie learns Random House is interested in his novel, his ecstasy is telegraphed with an energetic number. And when Cathy sings her slow opening song about Jamie giving up, it’s not just the tears that well in her eyes that make us also want to cry. The sad cello helps, too.
But it’s more than great dancing and tragic strings that elevate The Last Five Years to a funny, deeply affecting portrait of love lost and found. Kendrick and Jordan are Broadway performers with powerful voices. Watching her here, you might think there’s nothing she can’t do. She’s equally adept at telegraphing humour and heartbreak, and her ability to cry on command makes beginning the story at its end work. – Washington Post
If you liked Into the Woods or Les Miserables, you will like this.