The One I Love is a cute little romantic movie with a science-fiction twist. Ethan (Mark Duplass) and Sophie (Elisabeth Moss) are a married couple trying to work through his recent infidelity. Their therapist sends them to a picturesque weekend getaway to try to renew their love. Upon arriving, they discover something fantastical about their retreat: in the adjoining guest house, they are able to see a more perfect version of their spouse. When Ethan walks in, he finds another Sophie, one who is attentive and thoughtful and dresses herself up. When Sophie enters, the new Ethan inside is spontaneous, caring, and willing to discuss his emotions rather than walling himself off. Both are obviously weirded out at first, but Sophie is quickly attracted to the new Ethan and implores her husband to enjoy this new change, to help reconnect them to each other. Ethan is analytical and since he can’t explain what is going on, he refuses to spend much time in the guest house, while Sophie spends more and more time there.
This is a pretty heart warming tale, and takes a close look at how easy it is for a couples’ relationship to become stale and monotonous when you aren’t working at it. At one point, Ethan is upset and asks Sophie if she thinks the new Ethan is a better version of him, and Sophie responds with something like “He’s not a better version of you, he is you, or the you you used to be.” The ending of the film, and identity of the “guests,” isn’t quite what I was hoping for, but it is still a poignant movie.
In Your Eyes is another odd little romance. This one is written by Joss Whedon, of former Buffy and more recent Avengers fame. It is obviously a bit of a departure for him, but a well done one. This one never hit theaters, it was distributed online last year.
Dylan (Michael Stahl-David) and Rebecca (Zoe Kazan) share a telepathic link. They’ve had it their whole lives, but never consciously knew about it until one day they can start to hear each other’s voices in their heads. Dylan is an ex-con, from running with the wrong crowd, and Rebecca is married to a caring, but sometimes cold and detached husband. The film follows them as they get to know each other. Eventually they begin to fall for each other. They can’t hear thoughts, only spoken word, so some parts are comical as others around them think they are each talking to themselves. It takes a serious turn though when Rebecca’s husband has her institutionalized, and Dylan breaks his parole by leaving the state and trying to rescue her.
Kazan is cute as a button as she has been in the last few films I’ve seen, but that doesn’t save a fairly lackluster movie. It has a neat paranormal concept, but in the end feels like a gushy romance novel turned into film.
Jons Movie Takes 