Our resident film critic Will Ashton reviews The One I Love
As a general rule of thumb, I tend to subside the plot synopsis in my reviews to the bare essentials. I do this because A.) I hate writing them and B.) I find them fairly pointless. I mean, if you are reading the review, chances are you have some investment in eventually seeing the movie. Or already saw the movie and wanted to hear another opinion. Or at least want to know if it is a story worth experiencing. You don’t read reviews to hear a point-by-point recap.
With that in mind, when a movie like The One I Love comes out, I have a really hard time deciding on what to say and what not to say. Most reviews seemed to avoid mentioning “the twist” of the movie, but the so-called twist is essentially the plot. So, with that, I will have as basic of a description of the movie as possible and move on to what I felt about the film.
Ethan (Mark Duplass) and Sophie’s (Elisabeth Moss) marriage is deeply on the rocks. They had a spark once, but now they seem to have lost it almost entirely. They don’t hate each other; they just don’t see eye-to-eye. So it’s during a meeting with their therapist (Ted Danson) that they get persuaded to go to a beautiful resort house about an hour away from where they live in a last-ditch effort to save their marriage.
It’s cozy, low-key and plays well for long walks and enjoying the nighttime. But there is something about the house that isn’t quite right. And when they find out what that is, Ethan and Sophie are faced with an atypical weekend rendezvous.
Playing more or less as a bottle movie, The One I Love is a high-concept movie that, while living up to its promise, doesn’t quite overcome being more than good. It’s not as though anyone is doing anything particularly wrong—especially not the actors, with the leads giving some of their best performances in some time. But its fairly simplistic and somewhat familiar approach to its original concept doesn’t quite make for a deeply memorable movie.
The characters themselves are properly drawn out, and in a manner where character traits are narratively rewarding while also not being overbearing. But Justin Lader’s screenplay seems inconstant when it comes to the rules of its universe. Again, without getting into specifics, it often seems that things happen in this movie just because they need to in the plot. But often that means sacrificing what is able to happen in this movie’s possibilities. It makes for a mildly frustrating viewing experience.
Thankfully, when it comes to the mechanics of story’s possibility, it takes a fairly dependable approach of noting that it doesn’t really matter how the things that happen do indeed happen. Much like Looper or Frank, it confidentially notes that sometimes things just happen. And if trust the filmmakers, you’ll just let the movie take you where it goes.
With that in mind, it is safe to say that the movie knows what its best traits are, and uses them to their full advantages. The One I Love is always at its best when it lets Sophie and Ethan vent their feelings to each other. Much like another Duplass production Your Sister’s Sister, the movie is mostly just about a small group of people in a house talking about their feelings to one another. But because the characters are appropriately grounded and believably complex, it’s rewarding to watch their insecurities and bottled doubts come out in an entertaining and thankfully non-melodramatic manner.
Making his feature film-directing debut, Charlie McDowell’s technical and narrative competence displays a filmmaker with a lot of potential for future movies. As a fairly stripped down story, McDowell is still unafraid to display flashy techniques or overly produce directing choices. Which lets the story speak for itself.
As all of my other comments depend on the reader having seen the film or knowing the “twist,” there’s not much else to be said. All that will be re-uttered is that this is certainly a strong showcasing for Duplass and especially Moss of their talents in both drama and comedy. For it proves that sometimes its not a matter of how much needs to be said. If you have a good concept and play it well, that may just be all you need.
