10 Years

This film is about a group of high school classmates having a ten-year reunion party.

"10 Years" has a lot of recognisable actors, but none of these talents are put into good use. The characters are poorly introduced, we don't get to know who they were in the past and who they are now. The plethora of characters, with their plus ones make a huge number of people to follow, which adds to the complexity of the plot. The events that happen are dull and uninteresting, and I just don't care about what they do with rolls of toilet paper or how bad they sing in karaoke. They only pair of characters that is remotely interesting is the rock star and the girl in yellow shoes. They have chemistry together. In short, I found "10 Years" very dull and uninteresting.

¨Now the party can start!¨

The film is about a 10 year High School reunion, and I know that the formula seems repeated and overdone but this film felt fresh and original. The cast is great and they all share a good amount of screen time. This film manages to deal with all the separate stories and characters much better than other high budget films tried to (Valentine's Day and New Year's Eve). I was interested in the different relationships between these characters and was hooked from the beginning. I thought Channing Tatum would be the lead character and that the story would focus around him, but it actually doesn't; everyone gets a decent amount of screen time. There is no side story here, all the stories are equally relevant and have sufficient time to find some sort of closure. 10 Years was written and directed by Jamie Linden and this was his first film as a director. He had written the screenplays for Dear John and We Are Marshall. Here he gets to work with Tatum once again, but my favorite performance from this movie came from Oscar Isaac, who I really liked in Drive. Drive was my favorite movie from 2011, and despite the fact that Ryan Gosling carried that movie; I thought Isaac was absolutely perfect in his role as well. The chemistry he shares here with Kate Mara is amazing, and the song he performs at the karaoke bar was one of the highlights of the movie. 10 Years is not a laugh out comedy, but it has it's funny moments. I felt like it worked best as a sort of melancholic romantic drama. The actors were all perfectly casted in my opinion and they each delivered. 10 Years was a lovely and entertaining film.

As I mentioned before the story revolves around a 10 year High School reunion. The first couple that's introduced in the story is Jake (Channing Tatum) and Jess (Jenna Dewan-Tatum) who have been dating over three years. Jess is going to accompany Jake to his High School reunion. Before going to the party they stop to meet up with Jake's High School buddies Cully (Chris Pratt) and Sam (Ari Graynor) who are happily married with two kids. Then they also reunite with Marty (Justin long) and AJ (Max Minghella), and with Scott (Scott Porter) and Suki (Eiko Nijo) who are visiting from Japan. The last one that meets up with them is Reeves (Oscar Isaac), the most successful person from his class who has become a rock celebrity. Together they arrive at the High school reunion and meet up with the rest of their classmates. Cully, who was the class bully, is trying to redeem himself from his past and is looking to make amends with all the nerds. Jake is surprised when he sees his ex-High School sweetheart, Mary (Rosario Dawson) arrive with her hubby Paul (Ron Livingston). Apparently Jake and Mary were pretty much a perfect couple during their teenage years. And then there's Elise (Kate Mara) who always played it low in High School, but who Reeves remembers all too well as the girl who got away. There are several other supporting characters who also contribute to the overall humor and heart of the film like Garrity (Brian Geraghty), the ¨whigger¨ and his wife Olivia (Aubrey Plaza) who had never heard of that side of Garrity.

There is no novelty or breakthrough in this film. The story has been told before and we've seen the characters in other movies. In a way 10 Years reminded me of an 80's John Hughes movie. The film really worked thanks to some great performances from the cast and an emotionally gripping script. I was really hooked with some of the stories and the way in which these characters interacted with each other. Despite the ten years that had gone by, these characters still remained the same deep down inside and some needed closure. I loved Isaac's character and his song. His story and the chemistry between him and Mara was pretty intense. Aubrey Plaza really didn't get much screen time, but I saw her as a leading lady in Safety Not Guaranteed and there is no doubt she is really talented. Tatum got to act beside his wife once again after first meeting her on the set of Step Up. There was really a lot of chemistry between so many of these characters and they all seemed like real life friends. This is an interesting directorial debut from Jamie Linden and I hope more people get to see this good movie.

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'10 Years' is all about reunion of high school class to celebrate their 10 years graduation from school. At first the film shows normally high school reunion should be and seems nothing special from it. It's like watching daily people do at their reunion party like telling how have changed they are, what they've earned in life and introducing their husband or wife to old friends. But the movie flows smoothly and definitely doesn't try to be dumb or ridiculous like 'American Reunion' did. They make audience interested to see it until the best part at climax of the movie. It ends with a sweet and wonderful way which makes this movie so special. Overall, '10 Years' is not just an ordinary drama movie about people's reunion. Inside it there is a compelling story and Jamie Linden as director just put the ending in the right place. Also the characters here have same portion and not focus in only one or two main problems. For me, '10 Years' is great and could be one of the most remarkable romantic comedy movie in recent memory.

Director/writer Jamie Linden gives us a big ensemble cast on their 10 year high school reunion.

Jake (Channing Tatum) was the prom king. He is with his girlfriend Jess (Jenna Dewan-Tatum). But he encounters his old girlfriend Mary (Rosario Dawson) and they have issues to resolve.

Cully (Chris Pratt) was a douche bully. He is still only a few drinks away from the same douche even though he is a married to his cheerleader girlfriend Sam (Ari Graynor) and a father.

Marty (Justin Long) and A.J. (Max Minghella) are still trying to up one another, and they go head over heals for class hottie Anna (Lynn Collins).

Reeves (Oscar Isaac) was a band geek, but is now a star with a hit song. He finally has a chance with his crush, the class ghost Elise (Kate Mara).

Yeah, that's a lot of good actors and way too many characters. And that's not really all of them. Somebody needs to trim down the number of lead characters. The Big Chill had 8 leads, and that is probably the limit. This one had either 11 or 12 depending on how you count.

The stories are fairly standard. It's got that profound idealism that you'd expect. Everybody has something big to do. If they lose 1 storyline, the rest could be expanded and have a little air to breathe. It's still a good watch.

In his directorial debut "Ten Year", Jamie Linden (writer/producer of "We Are Marshall") introduces us to an extensive cast of characters as they make preparations to attend Howell Secondary School's Ten Year reunion. The film opens with a light and humorous air, as we meet the usual suspects in a film about life post-highschool: The grown up jock (Chris Pratt) who hopes to make amends for swirlies of the past; the nerd who broke out of his shell (Justin Long), made it big in the real world, and plans to conquer women who once spurned him; the rockstar (Oscar Isaac) who never really found happiness in fame; and of course, the one that got away (Rosario Dawson). There are a litany of supporting characters, most of whom contribute not only to making the film genuinely hilarious, but also support the bigger themes at play in a big way.

The film is largely predictable, and the characters all feel like they fit nicely into role's that have been hashed out in films of the past. A film like this lives or dies based on the strength of the script and the actors that bring it to the screen. Thankfully, the performances given by the substantial cast breathe life into the film, and for the most part we're laughing and crying right along with them.

Ultimately, despite being a little tired and predictable, Ten Year feels like a high-school reunion for the cast of a John Hughes movie. If you loved John Hughes' seminal high-school coming-of-age flicks, you should do well with Ten Year - a film aiming to remind us that coming-of-age continues well after graduation.