One True Loves features Simu Liu (Shang-Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings), Phillipa Soo (Hamilton), and Luke Bracey (Point Break) star in this modern twist on a classic love story from NY Times bestselling author Taylor Jenkins Reid. Emma and Jesse are living the perfect life together until Jesse disappears in a tragic helicopter crash on their first wedding anniversary. Four years later, Emma has found happiness again and is about to marry her best friend when Jesse resurfaces, turning her world upside down and leaving her torn between two great loves.
Can I take a moment to just acknowledge everyone who’s ever been trapped in the friend zone? This movie is for you.
The Good
One True Loves starts off really strong. I tip my hat to the production team for some strong direction and great performances here. The movie starts off very strong giving us a good view of the lives of Emma and Jesse’s perfect life. Now, this is the type of life people dream of when young of an endless vacation with a loved one. I had a lot of fun watching Emma’s love triangle develop with Jesse and Sam. One True Loves quickly brings us up to speed on Emma and Jesse’s high school romance. It grows organically and continues into adulthood and results in marriage. I really feel great about their romance and I understand their attraction in a relatable way.
The Bad
The editing was rough. There are moments in the movie where scenes only last for a few seconds before transitioning to another scene. Unfortunately, the actors are giving some really good performances that are cut short. A few moments are really touching on some deep emotions that could be explored further but aren’t. What undercuts this transition is that these scenes of deeply sad emotion get cut away to scenes that tell a quick gag and then switch back to the heavy emotion. the movie could have used some more time to let Phillipa do her thing.
Some of the jokes don’t land as well as intended. It’s a combination of bad editing and some poorly delivered humor. There’s a moment where we see Sam walk into the teachers’ lounge at his job in a predictable joke. The main issue is that the scene undercuts one of the more emotional moments in the movie with Emma and her husband.
Overall
One True Loves is an adorably funny movie that had me laughing throughout the movie. Phillipa Soo is outstanding in this movie and flexes a lot of emotional range in her performance. I would have loved to see more of her scenes extended a bit longer. There are too many moments where Phillipa is acting her ass off but these scenes get cut short. Simu Liu is a highlight and delivers some of the funniest moments in the movie. I would have liked to understand this music teacher could just hijack his students for any given reason! One moment he’s using them to impress Emma on a date and another moment he’s unloading his emotional dilemma’s on them during the school day.
I also can’t help but wonder why didn’t Sam have any adult friends he could talk to?
One True Loves Is The Dilemma For Everyone
- Acting - 7/107/10
- Cinematography/Visual Effects - 5/105/10
- Plot/Screenplay - 7/107/10
- Setting/Theme - 6/106/10
- Watchability - 6/106/10
- Rewatchability - 5/105/10