Novel flick offers odd storylines, predictable conclusion

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This article was published 05/04/2024 (522 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Buoyant but bland, this inspirational romance feels like a Hallmark movie that has inexplicably expanded to fit the big screen.

Based on the novel by Karen Kingsbury, the faith-based American writer whose books have sold more than 25 million copies, the drama is not just about family, it’s also by family. Kingsbury co-wrote the screenplay with her son, Tyler Russell, who makes his feature-film directing debut. Another son, Austin Robert Russell, plays a minor role.

With genuine sincerity and nice-looking backdrops, Someone Like You will please many of Kingsbury’s regular readers. But the story’s oddly flat treatment of some potentially uncomfortable plotlines means it’s unlikely to bring in new fans.

Jake Allyn plays Dawson Gage, a young architect who lives outside Birmingham, Ala., in what is perhaps the best romantic lake house since, well, 2006’s The Lake House.

Dawson is such a successful architect he’s featured on the cover of a glossy magazine, the first clear sign the story is taking place not in the real world but in Romance Land.

Since high school, Dawson has been in love with London Quinn (played by Canadian Sarah Fisher, known for Degrassi: The Next Generation). He’s landed in the friend zone, however, and just as that status seems about to change, London dies suddenly. (This isn’t a spoiler: The event is revealed in the film’s trailer.)

The grieving Dawson learns from London’s devastated parents, Louise and Larry (Lynn Collins and Scott Reeves), that London was conceived through IVF and another embryo was given anonymously to a couple experiencing fertility issues.

Dawson becomes intent on tracking down London’s secret sibling. He not only finds her — she’s a Nashville zookeeper named Andi Allen (also played by Fisher) — he also falls in love, again.

The storyline gets some unexpected topicality with recent Alabama legal rulings and legislation concerning IVF procedures. Someone Like You’s need to smooth over moral and emotional complexities makes for some awkward junctures, though.

The filmmakers want to play Dawson’s search for London’s twin sister as a sweet sign of his abiding devotion to London and her parents. It comes off as a bit invasive and stalker-y, though, especially when Dawson blurts out to Andi within minutes of meeting her that she has biological relatives living a few hours away, something she knows absolutely nothing about.

There are a few points made about nature and nurture. Both London and Andi love animals, their favourite creature being the gibbon. (Rom-com quirk alert!) In other ways, the two young women are very different. London was daring; Andi is cautious. London was always late and Andi is reliably punctual. One sings. The other doesn’t.

Fisher tries to differentiate between the two women with her dual performances, but the script doesn’t give her much to work with. Consequently, watching Dawson fall almost immediately for his late love’s identical-looking sister, or seeing how Andi fits into the lives of Louise and Larry, who are still mourning their late daughter, can feel a bit strange.

It’s a feeling the movie isn’t willing to examine. Instead, these characters take a predictable course toward a hopeful, happy ending. And while predictability is not necessarily a bad thing, especially in a romance, and hope and happiness are always good, it feels as if they come too easily.

Someone Like You is a faith-based story that needs to have more faith in its viewers.

alison.gillmor@winnipegfreepress.com