Have you ever read a book and thought to yourself, “This is going to make a great movie”? This is a fairly common thought among many readers, but if you’ve ever had this thought about a Colleen Hoover book, think again.
Controversial casts, questionable marketing and a massive lawsuit between two main actors; what could be bad about that? Apparently nothing, because Hoover decided to make more movies after her first one, “It Ends with Us.” The film hit theaters on Aug. 9, 2024, and was meant to depict domestic violence awareness, but what stole the show was the actor’s inability to get along.
Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni, the stars of Hoover’s first film, didn’t just promote the film, they somehow ended up being the center of nonstop online rumors and speculations. Whether all the allegations the actors made about each other were true or not, it almost doesn’t matter because the press ran with them, which in turn, overshadowed the film.
Even though some say all press is good press, this is likely not the case when you’re trying to promote sexual violence awareness and your main characters are caught up in controversy. At that point, the message gets lost, and the headlines take over.
Along with promoting their drama, Lively also felt the press from the movie was a great time to promote her new line of hair products by Blake Brown Beauty; this move left viewers confused. I remember when I saw the press, I jokingly thought, “Should I support Blake Lively’s hair products or domestic violence awareness? It’s hard to pick since they are both equally good causes to get behind!”
Since Hoover’s first film went so well, she released two more, “Regretting You” and “Reminders of Him.” Although there were no big, exciting lawsuits with these two, I still thought they were subpar.
“Regretting You” wasn’t horrible, but it was rather corny and felt like a Disney production. This was, in my opinion, her best film.
As for the most recent film, “Reminders of Him,” which had a lot of positive buildup, it was a complete miss.
The acting was mediocre at best, and the film’s plot felt rather cringey and forced. I read the book, and it was good, but the movie just made the serious situations and heartfelt moments feel awkward and inauthentic.
I also thought the main character was supposed to give a sort of diamond-in-the-rough vibe, but the whole situation felt trailer-parky. Maybe that’s what they were going for, but I didn’t love how they did it.
The pink streaks in the actor’s hair were a bold choice, and not because I’m not a fan of pink hair; rather, because she looks about 30 the whole film, so it felt more like a midlife crisis than a rebellious teenager’s hair choice.
I have no background in movie ratings or criticizing, but I’ll start now by saying this one was awful. Actually, I’d go as far as to say all of her films are, more or less, awful. Some people are good at making films, but she is not one of those people.
