“The Last Five Years” started off as an Off-Broadway musical in 2002. It made its film debut in 2014 at the Toronto International Film Festival. The two main characters are Cathy and Jamie, a married couple played by Anna Kendrick and Jeremy Jordan, respectively. They are also the only two characters in the movie with any dialogue, both spoken and sung.
The most interesting thing about this movie is the way the story is told. It is a non-linear story that shows both sides of the failing relationship between Cathy and Jamie. Cathy’s storyline shows the relationship from the end to the beginning and Jamie’s depicts it from the start. If that sounds confusing, it is. It is presented as an interesting way to tell both sides of the story, but instead it results in a convoluted plot which is hard to follow or care about. Really, the way the plot is structured is the only particularly memorable part of the movie.
The songs especially are forgettable. There is little spoken dialogue, so the music is used to move the plot forward. Unlike other musicals with minimal speaking, like “Les Misérables” or “Hamilton,” “The Last Five Years” has no real standout song that stays in your head or makes you take a second thought about the movie at all. Kendrick and Jordan are both talented actors and singers that do well with what they are given. Unfortunately, they are not really given anything worthwhile.
