The Way We Weren’t

The Way We Weren’t

In the silly, but sweet (and surprisingly dirty) farce The Way We Weren’t industry tech vet Rick Hays’ feature directorial debut two adorably klutzy thirtysomethings meet cute and get married too fast. A more satirical than not nod to the old Streisand/Redford romance in name only, this sometimes funny, always high-energy romp is an OK showcase for likable stars Fiona Gubelmann and Aussie Ben Lawson, whose performances broadly illustrate all the things that can go wrong when you lie to a partner about everything right up until you sleep with them and marry them anyway.

Plot? That’s a framework at best for all the rom-com contortions any viewer who comes near this kind of movie expects/demands. Charlotte has spent 14 years waiting to wed a guy who no longer wants anything to do with her; Brandon is a commitment-phobe deep in debt but able to pull lots of girls. When she does time after accidentally toppling her fiancé over a walking trail fence and he finds his latest conquest in flagrante with another dude, fate brings them together first online, where everyone lies; then in person, where they continue lying except for him spending beyond his means and her straining way too hard sexually.

At first it’s easy keeping track of their lies because every one they tell gets matched by someone else’s stupidity: Her ex thinks she was away at nursing school; his ex thinks he had cancer. But as soon as some seriousness creeps into their relationship, hiding these many balls becomes impossible. And Act 3 takes on an almost-serious tone that the script (by three writers including director Hays) simply hasn’t earned though pros Tobin Bell and Alexandra Davies as Brandon’s hippy drug-culture parents, plus that old chestnut of an uppity outdoor party with potential employers, conspire to send The Way We Weren’t out on a high like the best of the genre would demand.

It’s got an overall air of familiarity, but there are enough pleasantly left of center flourishes to keep the episodic plotting spry. They bond over their love for a Swedish cop show narrated by that show’s central character in its early scenes; Gubelmann’s comic timing is sharp whether she’s taking relationship advice from a grade-schooler or reacquainting herself with what modern bro/dude expects in bed; and then there are those couple of sex scenes that are well, let’s say well-suited for the European market. The movie does veer into There’s Something About Mary territory with an extended gag about Brandon’s misshapen manhood.

Though so clearly made on not-a-studio budget, all tech contributions are pro caliber here. DOP Paul Toomey provides buoyant, colorful lensing that captures key L.A. locations’ bright tones in a way that nicely underscores Charlotte and Brandon’s underlying sweetness.

Watch The Way We Weren’t For Free On Gomovies.