One of last week’s big hit film made my schedule this week with the Blake Lively film, It Ends With Us.

According to IMDB, “IT ENDS WITH US, the first Colleen Hoover novel adapted for the big screen, tells the compelling story of Lily Bloom (Blake Lively), a woman who overcomes a traumatic childhood to embark on a new life in Boston and chase a lifelong dream of opening her own business. A chance meeting with charming neurosurgeon Ryle Kincaid (Justin Baldoni) sparks an intense connection, but as the two fall deeply in love, Lily begins to see sides of Ryle that remind her of her parents’ relationship. When Lily’s first love, Atlas Corrigan (Brandon Sklenar), suddenly reenters her life, her relationship with Ryle is upended, and Lily realizes she must learn to rely on her own strength to make an impossible choice for her future“

I am very much on the fence about this movie. I am not sure how I felt about it. I found this to be a tough watch, making me feel uncomfortable and sordid. The whole fact about domestic abuse is a challenging subject to weave into the storyline, but this film does a decent job with it. The abuse is shown to be done by real people, not just one-dimensional villains. It is by real people who have problems in their lives. It is even true that when the abuser swears that they will never do it again, they mean it. They are just unable to keep the promise because their own issues overwhelm themselves.

Blake Lively does a good job as the lead protagonist. You can see the relationship between her and Ryle and there are some of the understanding why abused women try to make it work.

Jenny Slate, who played Lily’s best friend Allysa, stole every scene she was in. I thought she was the best part of the film.

There was a long time that they spent on a flashback that we did not know why or how it played into the story. It did come back eventually, but it was quite a while before we understood why these flashbacks were relevant to the current story.

I feel that this movie needed some rework, adjusting the story and making it tighter. The flashbacks were plenty, but it took too long to show us the reason for their inclusion. Good performances are here and it had its moments. I am still unsure how I feel fully, but I think I lean toward positive.

3 stars