REVIEW: “We Need to Talk” is a Rom-Com That Lacks Romance and Comedy
“We need to talk” is a sentence dreaded in many relationships. It can mean a multitude of things, but the assumption tends to lean more towards, someone wants to end the relationship. In Director/Writer Todd Wolfe’s new movie, We Need to Talk we watch as video game influencer, Great Scott (James Maslow), or Scott to his friends, spends an entire day worrying after his girlfriend, Aly (Christel Khalil) leaves him for the day with the parting words, “we need to talk”. At first, Scott isn’t worried about the sentence he is more concerned with his influencer job and the pending video game review due out to his followers. But as he begins to chat about the interaction with his friends, his friends convince him that he should be worried about the sentence. This creates a downward spiral for Great Dane as he wonders what Aly might have meant by the comment and what it might mean for their relationship.
On the surface, the movie seems like it has the making for a really good rom-com. An interesting story with a fun cast, but the movie unfortunately lacks the main things you need for a rom-com, romance and comedy. Maslow is a good choice to lead the movie, yet his character, Great Dane, comes off as selfish and egotistical. Every time you think he’s learned his lesson, the character does something that reminds you just how toxic he really is. You end up not rooting for the character nor his relationship with Aly when all is said and done.
Maslow is joined in the movie by Khalil, Arrow star Emily Bett Rickards (Amber), Johnathan Fernandez (Joe), Chrisdine King (Lady Fingers), and Tray Chaney (Tango_Unchained). Khalil is great alongside Maslow, but the audience spends too much trying to figure out what Aly sees in Great Dane than actually getting to enjoy the twos chemistry. Rickards’ outlandish Amber feels out of place in this movie, which is a shame because Rickards is a good comedic actress who didn’t get a chance to shine. Fernandez, King, and Chaney play minor parts, and like Khalil’s Aly, you spend a majority of the time wondering why they are friends/trying to help Great Dane.
Instead of capitalizing on the cliché that surrounds the sentence “We need to talk”, the movie causes the audience to continue to ask themselves, “Why is Aly still with this guy? If you are looking to watch a romantic comedy this weekend, I would recommend checking out an old favorite instead. This movie just doesn’t do the romantic comedy genre justice, nor will it satisfy fans.
Grade: D