The Greatest Hits

The Greatest Hits is an emotional comedy, drama, and fantasy film that highlights the impact of music. The cute yet sentimental storyline is unique, and I especially love how this film uses music as a metaphor to depict grief, and the stages people go through processing it.

The film introduces Harriet (Lucy Boynton) who loses her boyfriend in a car accident. The tragedy leaves Harriet with trauma and also the ability to go back in time. When she hears a song that's connected with a memory, the ability to time travel is triggered, and Harriet goes back to that time. Harriet tries to bring Max back, and faces many life-challenge obstacles that don't allow her to recover from his death. Two years later, Harriet remembers the accident like it happened yesterday-she visits a support group where she meets David (Justin H. Min). And so Harriet must "face the music" and make some very tough decisions.

This film is authentic, heartbreaking, and very relatable. I love the soundtrack and connected with it so much as I constantly listen to music, and I love how music symbolizes different stages of life. Throughout the film, Harriet is desperately looking for ways to bring Max back. While this makes Harriet relatable, I also found this to be the film's biggest flaw. That being said I did find the plot to be very cute and romantic. The story is about overcoming grief, and I like how the film represents what that means to Harriet. However, the acting and script aren't as strong as I wished. Lucy Boynton does deliver a very good performance as she shows how grief can harshly impact one's life. And I liked Austin Crute's performance as Harriet's best friend-their chemistry is refreshing as he supports Harriet through her grieving process. Finally, I enjoy the aesthetic of this film-the warm cinematography is pleasing to the eye.

The message of this film is that sometimes we need to let go of the past to move forward with the present.

I give The Greatest Hits 4 out of 5 stars and recommend it for ages 12 to 18, plus adults. By Zoe C., KIDS FIRST!

Everybody has songs which bring them back to specific times in their lives. For Harriet Gibbons (Lucy Boynton), it happens literally as she travels back in time. She is trying to save her boyfriend Max Enders (David Corenswet) from a deadly crash. She meets David Park (Justin H. Min) at her self-help group.

This has an intriguing elevator pitch from filmmaker Ned Benson. He has a few good ideas in this movie, but the premise needs more work. There are basic problems stemming from the concept. First, she needs to keep going back to the death moment. It only makes sense. It also doesn't help that Max is forced by the story to dismiss her at every turn. It makes him look bad as a boyfriend. The whole movie gets dragged down by many minor issues.

The other night my wife and I watched The Greatest Hits now streaming on Hulu. The movie stars Lucy Boynton and Justin H. Min and is written and directed by Ned Benson. The Greatest Hits follows Harriet (Boynton) as she tries to lead a normal life after the tragic death of her boyfriend. Getting over him proves to be more difficult than normal because every time Harriet hears a song that reminds her of him, she is sucked back in time until the song ends. As you can imagine, this affliction not only makes it difficult for her to get over him, but it also complicates her everyday life, including dating her new love interest David (Min).

This movie had all the makings of a cute rom com that really hits you in the feels. Unfortunately, it fell short of this goal. My overall rating for this movie is a 6.5/10 meaning that, although I did not think that this was a particularly bad movie, I also won't go as far as saying that it was good. This was a perfectly ok and forgettable movie that I will most likely never think about again after I finish writing this blog. To me, the movie did not do as good of a job of relaying the message that it wanted to convey. It seemed that it was showing us the pain of moving on and how hard it is to do that, but the execution was just lacking. The acting felt hallow and I found myself not being able to get immersed into the story. All in all, if you have something better to watch on your movie night, maybe skip The Greatest Hits.

Thanks for reading and please comment below your thoughts or if you have any suggestions on reviews you would like to see.

And, to overuse a delicious quote from SEINFELD, not that there is anything wrong with that. The most interesting thing about this quite adequate film is the odd way reviewers approach it. It is as if no two pundits can agree on what they just saw? Some see a time travel film along the lines of THE TIME TRAVELOR's WIFE. Some see a deconstruction of the role of music in modern society. Some simply see a useful vehicle to move along the career of the always photogenic Boynton (who, for example, is all most of us can recall from the otherwise tedious IPCRESS FILE). Some even suggest that the film's auteur created this ambiguity deliberately to hold the attention. Which is, after all, the primary purpose of any film. Entertainment. Holding one's gaze. This reviewer, like Boynton's own character, sees all the possibilities at once, and each has merit.. But, unlike that character, will not attempt to change or alter any of them. ((Designated "IMDb Top Reviewer." Please check out my list "167+ Nearly-Perfect Movies (with the occasional Anime or TV miniseries) you can/should see again and again (1932 to the present))

Lucy Boynton plays a VERY charming girl with a tragic past. One she can access with the help of a magical-and-music-driven form of time travel, where every song becomes a potential key to undoing her tragedy. A film about grief and permanent loss.

It's good, but not great.

The time-travel system is surprisingly well-defined and consistent, and it works because it is very simple. The posed question has weight, and becomes quite defining.

So what's wrong about it?

Well, the script shows its hand early, removing intrigue from the table, and becomes a question of "choice".

Then, and sadly for me, the core relationship doesn't work.. as I didn't get to like him at all, which makes it very difficult to understand why she would. The setup feels rushed, and every development feels forcefully special. It left me wanting more authenticity and less insistence.

Ultimately, the film is quite nice, in sentiment, creativity and execution. Everything works.. except for him. And it is a REAL shame, as I really wanted to like it!

As the movie states, "the most terrifying and amazing part of being a human being.. our capacity to move on". So, here I am, moving on.. But she is wonderful! Reason enough to watch. While tragic, she is ready for betterness and open minded. An excellent main character. Oh, and the music is also great! But a lack of a good core, and an ending I found particularly unsatisfying, keeps it from me loving it. Still, I enjoyed its potential and the great execution.