I Want You Back Review: Charlie Day & Jenny Slate's Rom-Com Is More Apt For A Sitcom Setting

Available On: Amazon Prime Video
Duration: 111 Minutes
Language: English

Plot: Peter and Emma are total strangers who cross paths days after being dumped by their partners. Heartbroken they turn to each other for friendship, which soon turns into more when they see that each of their ex-partners have happily moved on to new romances.

Review: I Want You Back is a twisted rom-com that works within the bounds of what's ethically right, unlike any 90s rom coms that either pitted women against each other or set up unrealistic expectations for the audience. With releases like Love Hard and I Want You Back, the romantic comedy genre is making a subtle comeback, Jason Orley's directorial definitely sets up high expectations from the genre and upcoming releases like Marry Me.

Coming back to the Charlie Day & Jenny Slate-starrer, I Want You Back follows two strangers Peter and Emma who get dumped on the same weekend. Emma had been dating Noah, a hot fitness trainer for about six months when he declares that he has found someone else who actually has a drive for life. While Peter is asked to leave a family birthday party by Anne his girlfriend of six years - the reason is they have been in a rut for years.

Emma returns to her dead-end job as a receptionist at a dentist but can't keep her tears to herself on seeing two teenagers confessing their love. Meanwhile, on another floor in the same building, Peter is also crying his eyes out on realising that Anne is already dating someone else. When they cross paths with mascara running eyes and tissue paper stuck to their faces, they decided to become each other 'sadness sisters'.

Emma and Peter pledge to call each other whenever they are tempted to call their exes, but they end up spending more time with each other pinning over their lost love. On realising that they would never find anyone better, Emma suggests that they could infiltrate Noah and Anne's new relationships to break them up. Soon enough, chaos ensues and things don't always go as planned. However, Love, Simon writers Isaac Aptaker and Elizabeth Berger manage to keep the story fresh by not opting for the stereotyped plot of Emma and Peter falling for each other right away.

The two end up understanding each other and spending time looking at themselves from different perspectives before making any decisions for themselves. Instead of going for a raunchier rom-com for adults, we get a simpler, safer - a sitcom version. However, some recklessness would have helped the lack of comedy in the script. With a tighter plot and better comic timing for the duo's shenanigans, I Want You Back would have been the rom-com comeback film.

Manny Jacinto and Gina Rodriguez are their charming selves even in the supporting characters. Their chemistry sparks off more than Charlie Day and Jenny Slate do on screen. The plot is about the slow-burn love being the best kind, but they do not get the moment to hit it off until the last minute.

Overall, I Want You Back is a fun, relaxing watch which would pass as a New Girl, or How I Met Your Mother replacement.