Was McKenna Grace up to the task of starring in Regretting You, a film based on the Colleen Hoover novel? I have to say no, unless you like your family dramas to feel like just another movie-of-the-weak, pun intended. The film, whose themes are loss, betrayal and grief, fails to wring any true emotional reaction from the audience. When you're looking forward to the appearance of co-stars Lexie (Sam Morelos) and Efren (Ethan Costanilla), more than the scenes between stars Allison Williams as Morgan Grant and Dave Franco as Jonah Sullivan, your film might be in trouble.
Each actor seems to just bounce back from tragic, unexpected losses of a husband, sister, wife-to-be, best friend. Each display some deep well of acceptance that doesn't seem reality-based. It's as if everyone in the story is afraid to be angry. Perhaps that's because for 17 years, both Morgan and Jonah have ghost-walked through the roles they thought they were assigned - long suffering, just be nice, don't rock the boat. That's part of the twist, so I won't reveal it here.
As Miller Adams, the young man who wins the heart of Clara Grant (Grace), I appreciated Mason Thames' attempts to pull a human reaction out of Clara. The scenes which included Grace and Clancy Brown as Hank, Adam's ailing grandfather, were also well-meant and temporarily elevated the movie. However, it soon sunk back into mundanity. Clara Grant's dad is dead, as is Morgan Grant's husband, yet neither of the women seem to exhibit depression or anger. Apparently the well-documented Kubler-Ross five stages of grief were not included in the script. When the highest form of grief a parent reaches is grounding their kid, I'd say the might merit a visit from a social worker, a discussion with the school counselor, at the very least.
Did I hate Regretting You? No. It is simply unremarkable. Hoovers most recent book-to-screen adaption of It Ends With Us, which dealt with themes of conflict and spousal abuse, was infinitely more watchable.
