*This article contains spoilers for Colleen Hoover’s “Regretting You”. Reader discretion is advised!*
As I settled into my AMC recliner beside my fellow HerCampus members, I eagerly awaited the premier of “Regretting You”, the well-anticipated film adaptation of the Colleen Hoover book of the same name. For two hours, I put my problems with Hoover and her controversial novels aside and I watched the story of the Grant family unfold, with themes of romance, heartbreak, loss, and family running rampant throughout every scene (along with numerous product placements for AMC Theaters). While I may have found this movie entertaining, I couldn’t help but feel unfulfilled as I left the theatre. And as I continued to process the film on my journey home, I couldn’t help but think:
Do I regret seeing “Regretting You”?
Before I get into my review, I’d like to point out that I did indeed go into this film blind. I had not read Hoover’s book before, nor have I bothered to pick up any of her books because I am not a fan of hers in general, and I had also not bothered to look up a plot synopsis because I wanted to be surprised. Needless to say, I think my lack of knowledge on Hoover’s novel has greatly impacted my experience of the film, and it is my firm recommendation that you at least read a plot summary of the book before going into things.
With that out of the way, I’d like to begin by discussing what I enjoyed about the film since there were a few of those moments. I liked the overarching themes and messages the story promotes, considering it has strong roots in the ideas of family, self-discovery, and betrayal and how it affects those of differing ages (literal babies to middle aged people). I also enjoyed getting to see Mckenna Grace on the big screen in what I feel is her first truly “mature” film, and her performance here certainly shows how she is indeed the future of cinema. I would also like to praise Allison Williams for her performance as Morgan, since she truly embodied the role of mother just trying to keep it together despite all the conflict in her life.
Unfortunately, that’s about all the good I could really think of.
In terms of what I did not enjoy, though, there is more material. My main issue with this film was its pacing; everything felt underdeveloped and the pivotal moments felt rushed. In quite a few scenes where the actors were dealing with grief or frustration with one another, I felt that they ended too quickly or just brushed over the issue to move onto the next thing. While this feeling was present for me throughout the entirety of the film, it really came to a halt towards the film’s ending.
During this scene, Morgan (Allison Williams), explains to her daughter Clara (Mckenna Grace) about the romantic encounter she had with Jonah (Dave Franco) that Clara had witnessed. Morgan explains to her daughter why she and Jonah were kissing, and then reveals that her recently deceased father, Chris (Scott Eastwood), was having an affair with her also deceased Aunt Jenny (Willa Fitzgerald). Clara, of course, is upset about everything that has just happened, and while one may expect her to need time to process this life-changing news, Clara does the opposite. Instead, she tells her mother that “she deserves to be happy” and that she is completely supportive of the budding relationship. Mind you, before this, Clara absolutely adores her father and aunt, so her quick switch up just seems incredibly unbelievable to me.
And while on the topic of budding relationships, another area where the film felt rushed would be the relationship between Clara and her boyfriend, Miller (Mason Thames). At the beginning of the film, Miller is revealed to have a girlfriend and therefore he cannot be with Clara. But as the film progresses, love prevails as it always does and the two end up together. However, the film really glosses over Miller’s relationship with his ex-girlfriend. Is she really that important to the story? No. But is it logical to assume that there would be more mention of her during the film since they were together for a good chunk of it? Yes.
The pace at which Miller and Clara get together is incredibly fast, and while I understand it has to be quick because this is a film and not a book, I feel like it was too rushed. As soon as Miller reveals that he is done with his ex-girlfriend, he and Clara share a passionate kiss behind his truck and make it official that they are an item. And while this is romantic, I feel as though Clara and Miller could have taken a little bit more time to let their emotions fester, rather than just diving head first into a relationship that barely has stable legs to balance on.
I would also have to argue the same for Jonah and Morgan, however the audience does get a brief glimpse into their complicated relationship through flashbacks so it’s a little easier to digest. However, I feel that these characters took more time with their relationship, and maybe it’s because they’re both adults and it’s supposed to symbolize the apparent differences in both romantic relationships shown within the film. Regardless of intent, though, I feel as though both relationships could have used a little more time to solidify themselves.
The rushed relationships feed into my next problem with the film, since I feel that there was just too much going on in general. Maybe it’s because I did not read the novel it was based on, but I feel like this film just had too many ideas crammed into it, which negatively impacted the overall story in general. With the conflicting storylines of inter-spousal affairs, teenage love, and single parenthood, I feel as though each of these plotlines would have benefitted from their own, singular stories rather than being in what I consider to be a rushed anthology of underdeveloped stories.
And while on the topic of things being underdeveloped, yet another glaring issue I found with the film would be what confused me the most while watching in the first place: the lack of context. It is clear that you do need to read the book in order to truly understand the movie. But for any film adaptation, I feel as though this shouldn’t be the case; any viewer interested in the story should be able to understand what they have seen and then make the decision about going to read the book. However, I don’t feel that was the case here. The factor that really made this clear to me was something that was present in almost every scene, and that would be Miller and his signature lollipops.
From the beginning of the movie, we are aware that hard candies are indeed going to be a recurring symbol; one of the first scenes of the movie was a close up shot of a cupholder full of Jolly Ranchers. We end up getting some context on the Jolly Ranchers, however the lollipops are indeed a mystery. Since I had no prior knowledge of why Miller likes lollipops, I had assumed that it was supposed to be a way to make him look like a “bad boy” since the stick of a lollipop resembles a cigarette which is a piece of that trope.
However, in my findings after watching the film and wanting answers, I learned that Miller likes lollipops because it helps him cope with the trauma he endured within his life. This then led me to go down a deeper rabbit hole, since the film barely acknowledges Miller’s trauma in favor of focusing on the “more interesting” Morgan and Clara. In the book, Miller is revealed to have lost both of his parents and lives with his grieving grandfather, which is a very important piece to his character. In the film, however, Miller’s trauma is explained in a few throwaway lines, and he does indeed still live with his grandfather, however his grandfather is more a figure of comedic relief rather than a character riddled with his own grief.
My next point of contention would have to be the actors chosen to work on the film, mainly Dave Franco and Mckenna Grace. To start with Franco, my main issue is that I just can’t take him seriously after his role in “21 Jump Street”, and this is definitely a personal problem for me. I’m well aware that he has done numerous dramatic projects within his career, but I really can’t think of him as anything else but the popular “good boy” who sells drugs on the side. However, in terms of his actual acting skills, I don’t think he was the perfect choice for the role of “recently widowered nerdy father”. I feel as though he was somewhat detached from the character, and it certainly showed in his line delivery and overall performance as Jonah.
For Mckenna Grace, though, my thoughts are somewhat different. Grace is an incredibly talented actress and has quite literally been raised on film and television sets considering how many projects she has been in when compared to her age. I think Grace did an incredible job in this film, and this was my first time seeing her in a mature role rather than being the younger version of some other A-List actress. And while I think she did great, I can’t help but think this role was almost “too old” for her. Maybe this is because I’m used to her always acting as a child rather than a teenager, but something about this casting choice just felt…off. I know the character she portrayed is supposed to be a teenager, but based on the maturity of the character’s actions, I feel like Grace was just a bit too young to be playing this role. Regardless, I think Grace is better suited for more dramatic roles as her acting career clearly shows, however this film shows that she is truly expanding her range as an actress.
Overall, I can admit that I was entertained by “Regretting You”, however I won’t be putting it on my rewatch list anytime soon. But, I encourage the masses to go watch the film for themselves and form their own opinion. However, considering the casting choices, pacing issues, and plot holes that I noticed, I feel as though this is just yet another example of one of Colleen Hoover’s novels that is better fitted for the bookshelf than the big screen.