Endings, Beginnings

I have to admit that the original title is way more apt - but then again Love again also makes sense. This is a movie about love and relationships .. and a different type of femme fatale. If she can be called that. Maybe a subtle Siren? And one that only seems to sway a certain type of man.

Of course those men being portrayed by two very well known actors (one from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the other from the 50 shades movies) makes it easier for a certain target audience to get involved in this. Having Woodley in this of course will also appease another target group. And the movie being quite raunchy helps too (nudity and a lot of heated .. connections included) ... if you are not easily offended that is of course.

A different and akward look at sex life and expectations ... especially for those undecided ones ... why choose one, when you can have both? Or how certain are you that one is better than the other? Feelings can never be left unaccounted for ...

The performances are generally fine, but 'Endings, Beginnings' wanders around with its "lost girl finding herself" story and never quite makes its point. Aimless. And please... Drake Doremus really needs to chill out with those mid-sentence jump-cuts.

Daphne Mirador (Shailene Woodley) decides to take a six-months break after a four year relationship with Adrian (Matthew Gray Gubler). She's struggling to find a job and vows to stop drinking. She's living under her sister Billie (Lindsay Sloane) and her family. She meets Jack (Jamie Dornan) and Frank (Sebastian Stan) at a party.

The story is aimless which seems to be the point. Daphne is aimless and it makes for an aimless watch. It's as tiresome as that sounds. It's a lot of hot people having boring melodramas. On a minor note, I don't like the text style. The hipster colorized text is harder to read and is simpler trying too hard. I would have quit after thirty minutes if it isn't against my policy. There is a lot of stops and starts. I have nothing to cling to with these characters. I don't care about them and I don't really know the guys. With Dornan, I'm just reminded of 50 Shades and that's not a good thing. That may or may not be his fault but it is definitely unavoidable. The sex scenes don't help. As for Shailene, I applaud her attempts at being a little different than the constant MPDG. She does need a more discriminating eye for the material. This is a hipster melodrama of the boring kind.

This movie terribly lacked substance and excitement. Nothing happens except kitschy texts on the screen every five minutes and the next thing you know, Daphne slinks out of one guy's arms and runs into the other's, only to turn back to the first one again in a jiffy. I'd expect a movie with Jamie Dornan to have a lot more verve and zest, to be honest. What a shame.

If you are looking for an intellectual movie, skip this one. This is a movie about a 'lost' girl 'finding' herself. She has two incredibly attractive men to choose from and on goes the story. This movie is very reminiscent of wattpad fanfictions I used to read as a teen. I honestly saw this movie for Sebastian Stan and his performance was good. Woodley, as ever, has the emotional range of a cucumber. The soundtrack of the movie, however, is good. If you are bored and looking for a predictable romance movie that does not require a lot of thinking, this is for you.