10 YEARS (2011)

Genre: Drama
Director: Jamie Linden
Cast: Channing Tatum, Kate Mara, Rosario Dawson, Lynn Collins, Ari Graynor, Chris Pratt, Justin Long, Jenna Dewan, Anthony Mackie, Oscar Isaac, Ron Livingston, Scott Porter, Max Minghella, Brian Geraghty, Aaron Yoo
Runtime: 1 hr 40 mins
Rating: PG13 (Some Coarse Language)
Released By: Golden Village Pictures
Official Website: http://www.10yearsmovie.tumblr.com/

Opening Day: 17 January 2013

Synopsis: In this ensemble comedy, "10 Years" follows a group of friends on the night of their high school reunion who, a decade later, still haven't quite grown up. Channing Tatum plays Jake, who is deeply in love with his girlfriend (Jenna Dewan) and ready to propose-until he runs into his high school flame (Rosario Dawson) for the first time in ten years. Jake's friend Cully (played by funnyman Chris Pratt) married his cheerleader girlfriend (Ari Graynor), and has been looking forward to the reunion so he can finally apologize to all the classmates he bullied in high school. However, after a few too many drinks, the jock-turned-family man ends up reverting back to his old ways instead. Meanwhile, longtime rivals Marty (Justin Long) and A.J (Max Minghella) spend the night still trying to one-up each other to impress the coolest girl in class (Lynn Collins), who now has a secret. The famous one of the group, Reeves (Oscar Isaac) is now well-known musician, but is still too shy to talk to the high school crush (Kate Mara) who inspired his one hit wonder.

Movie Review:

By now, you pretty much know what to expect from a high school reunion film, and even the best like Lawrence Kasdan’s ‘The Big Chill’ or the mediocre like the Mira Sorvino/ Lisa Kudrow comedy ‘Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion’ basically revolve around the same premise of a bunch of classmates gathering together to reminisce about old times and to measure each person’s place and accomplishments so far in life.

So it is with ’10 Years’, the writing and directing debut of ‘We Are Marshall’ and ‘Dear John’ screenwriter Jamie Linden, which offers nothing new or deep to the genre. Yet despite its familiarity, there is an easy winning charm to the film, as Linden eschews Hollywood-style dramatics for something that feels real and heartfelt, aided in no small measure by an ensemble cast.

Instead of centring the movie around one or two characters, Linden accords equal attention to a bevy of them, with each having his or her own individual story-plot which overlaps with one another from time to time. The first we are acquainted with is that of Jake (Channing Tatum), a popular high-school dude who is bringing his longtime girlfriend Jess (played by Tatum’s wife in real life, Jenna Dewan-Tatum) to the gathering. The sudden appearance of his ex, Mary (Roasario Dawson) poses complications when he discovers he still has unresolved feelings for her.  

Jake’s other buddies are no better. Successful pop star Reeves (Oscar Isaac) is still holding a torch for the demure and withdrawn Elise (Kate Mara) after all these years, the biggest hit of his career in fact a song about his unrequited love for her. Meanwhile, bookish nerd Marty (Justin Long) is still hoping to strike up something with a hot former classmate Anna (Lynn Collins) – who to his surprise still lives in town – but faces unexpected competition from his married pal AJ (Max Minghella).

Though matters of the heart seem to be the film’s agenda, there are also some other interesting bits. Former class bully Cully (Chris Pratt) turned family man tries to make amends with the geeks he used to torment – especially an Asian named Peter (Aaron Yoo) – but that endeavour goes south way too quickly once he starts drinking, much to the dismay of his embarrassed wife (Ari Graynor). And there’s also a less significant part involving a football jock named Garrity (Brian Geraghty) whose marriage with Olivia (Aubrey Plaza) seems to be on the rocks until the latter discovers something more about him.

Juggling so many different characters and stories is a challenge, but one that Linden proves surprisingly adept at. Knowing exactly the intent and message behind each, he weaves adroitly between the various characters, keeping up a breezy pace throughout the movie. Especially towards the end, he ensures a tight rein on sentimentality, never letting it tip into hokeyness; instead, he wraps each of the plots with a melancholic sweetness, and does it with such earnestness that you’ll find yourself moved in unexpected ways.

It’s also not hard to see how Linden managed to assemble such a star cast for the film; each of the roles, as Linden claims, has been tailored to the actor meant to play it, and in fact a particular setup where the characters take turns to marvel at their teenage selves must certainly have required most, if not all, of the actors to gamely contribute some of their own photos. That the characters are made for the actors could be the reason why they all seem entirely comfortable on screen, their performances free of the pretension some ensemble movies tend to be prone to.

The same of course can be said of the film as a whole, which wisely doesn’t try too hard to be funny or melodramatic. It taps into its audience’s nostalgic memories and bittersweet reminisces of high school, inviting them to find a familiar character or scenario in the myriad characters and scenarios laid out in the movie. Precisely because it feels genuine, it is also heartwarming and poignant, offering a simple lesson that in moving forward with life it is sometimes worthwhile to look back at where we came from and who we were before. 

Movie Rating:

(Surprisingly honest and heartfelt, this high school reunion tale with an ensemble cast of familiar faces leaves a poignant lesson about finding closure with the past and moving ahead with life)

Review by Gabriel Chong