Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

Undescribable Perfection

It's no definitive masterpiece but it's damn close.

Fanciful, disturbing, and wildly original, it announces the arrival of a fresh, bold voice in American cinema.

The sounds of New York City fill the air as a charming, cream apartment building appears on the screen and the title The Last Five Years is displayed. The words fade along with the city's din and is replaced by the soft touch of a piano. The camera pans up the building until focusing on one particular room. Inside sits Cathy (Anna Kendrick) staring emptily at a letter, hurt clearly etched across her face. This is where the story begins, or rather should I say Cathy and Jamie's (Jeremy Jordan) story ends. The Last Five Years, based on the off-Broadway musical, takes us through the relationship of Cathy, a struggling actress, and Jamie, a rising star in the world of literature, and how they go from a creative power couple to a broken marriage. The Last Five Years is brilliantly and beautifully translated onto screen due to the unique way the story is told with the assistance of lighting and music.Director Richard LaGravenese follows the clever narrative of the play in which Cathy and Jamie tell the story from each of their perspectives almost exclusively in song. What makes the narrative so clever though, is that their sides of the story are told in opposite directions. Cathy works backwards beginning from the failure of their marriage and ending at the start of their love affair. Meanwhile, Jamie tells the story from the start of their relationship and ends with writing the letter that explains he has left. There may be some initial confusion while watching the film, but LaGravenese does his best to add hints of where the two are at in their relationship.One hint is the crafty use of lighting throughout the film. It can be observed that during the rough patches of Cathy and Jamie's relationship, grays and other dark tones are used to emphasize the gloomy, hard times. Then the cinematic color design does a complete one-eighty and vibrant colors are thrown onto the screen. The brightness of the colors reflects their blissful relationship which is flying too close to the sun and the inevitability of being burned is practically tangible. The scene when Cathy and Jamie take a Sunday Drive paints the radiance of their relationship perfectly and is only enhanced with Cathy's upbeat song.Like any musical, songs play an important role in storytelling and the music and lyrics of The Last Five Years, composed by Jason Robert Brown, are no exception. The film begins with the sweet and sad ballad "Still Hurting" flawlessly delivered by Kendrick and ends with the strong, heartwarming yet heartbreaking duet "Goodbye Until Tomorrow / I Could Never Rescue You" performed by Kendrick and Jordan. The rest of the film is filled with a variety of songs, ranging from the haunting "If I Didn't Believe in You," to the comical "A Summer in Ohio," and the fun-loving "I Can Do Better Than That." The tunes are catchy and the lyrics are witty that a movie-goer is guaranteed to have at least one song from the soundtrack stuck in their head for days, especially if they are a musical fanatic. On top of it all, the voices of Kendrick and Jordan are wonderful and mesh so well together during harmonies that the on screen chemistry between the two almost seems real. The music, cinematics, and screenplay are just a few of the many factors that assist in the eloquent translation of The Last Five Years from an off-Broadway musical to the big screen. The combination of these aspects and others take a viewer on the five-year roller-coaster that is Cathy and Jamie's relationship. The back-and-forths, ups and downs, and loop de loops are certain to leave viewers with a case of emotional whiplash as they exit the theater.

I would like to start this off by saying that I have never even heard of this musical before the movie, thus I have never seen the Broadway production. This review is only based on the movie. I was aware of this movie after the soundtrack was suggested on my spotify and I loved it. I watched the movie hoping that I would be able to understand the songs more. This movie has wonderful music and the songs are addictive. I thought the chemistry between both characters was very good. However, individually, I liked the leads unevenly. Anna Kendrick as the female lead was lovely to watch and I believe her voice is very nice. However, Jeremy Jordan's male lead, Jamie (yes I know, lots of J's), was much less likable. His voice was lovely but because I didn't care for his character made me not want to listen to his songs. I know that this is an indie darling in the Broadway community, but, as an outsider, I thought /,because of this dislike of one of the leads, the movie's story was lacking. I probably won't watch the movie multiple times but i will get the soundtrack so I can listen to it all the time.

One of the best lyrics written for a musical. So emotional from the piano to the lyrics to the story itself and of course the acting from the brilliant Anna Kendrick and amazing Jeremy Jordan. That voice. I cried and watched it several times... and I am still hurting...Lyrics Spoiler below:Favorite Part: "Will you share your life with me (Forever.) For the next ten lifetimes? (Forever, Jamie...) For a million summers 'Til the world explodes, 'Til there's no one left Who has ever known us apart! There are so many dreams I need to see with you... There are so many years I need to be with you... I will never be complete I will never be alive-- I will never change the world Until I do."

The Last 5 Years is a beautiful musical but when I discovered they were making it into a movie I was skeptical. I did not think that the set up of this musical would translate to screen very well. After all wouldn't the same story being told forward and backward simultaneously be confusing in a movie format? I'm proud to say that this movie proved me wrong. Anna Kendrick and Jeremy Jordan are brilliant as Cathy and Jamie. Their voices are phenomenal and were very fitting for this style of singing. There was a great amount of emotion in each of their performances. This truly helped in the telling of the story. I would definitely suggest this for fans of the movie musical genre. This is one that they are going to want to add to their collection.