'I Want You Back' review: a sweet and funny romantic comedy

Directed by Jason Orley, the film releases on Amazon Prime on Friday

Jenny Slate and Charlie Day in 'I Want You Back'. Photo: Amazon Prime Video

Any romantic-comedy is only as good as its leading pair.

That’s why there was plenty of excitement when Amazon announced that Jenny Slate and Charlie Day would be starring in I Want You Back, as fans of the pair could immediately imagine them on-screen together.

Slate has been the best thing about many movies and TV shows over the past decade, including Zootopia, Venom and Parks and Recreation, but has yet to have a break-out leading part in a mainstream comedy. Meanwhile, Day’s performances in Horrible Bosses, Pacific Rim, Fist Fight and It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia have established him as one of the most reliably funny men in Hollywood.

But just bringing two comedic actors together doesn’t always lead to an impressive rom-com. They need to be selfless, quick and on the same wave-length comedically, and even then they might not create the spark that leads to strong on-screen chemistry.

Thankfully, Slate and Day are just as charming and hilarious together as you’d expect, and watching their mischievous and cynical, but still warm and endearing, personalities mesh together makes I Want You Back delightful to watch all the way through.

Day and Slate star as Emma and Peter, two thirty-somethings living in Atlanta, who work in the same building but don’t know each other. When Peter and Emma are dumped by their respective partners Anne (Gina Rodriguez) and Noah (Scott Eastwood) on the same day, they both go to the same stairwell to cry and ultimately end up bonding.

After sharing their stories of heartbreak, Emma and Peter soon decide that Anne and Noah are indeed the loves of their lives. They just don’t know it yet. In order to help them reach that conclusion, Emma vows to break up Anne’s relationship with her new partner Logan (Manny Jacinto), while Peter will sabotage Noah’s burgeoning romance with Ginny (Clark Backo).

Without the right pairing, I Want You Back could easily have become creepy and even sinister. But not only are Day and Slate able to get across just how desperate and depressing their characters have become, they make sure that the audiences are laughing at their increasingly unstable antics, too.

What makes it all the more remarkable is that we’re still able to see how lovable and charming both Emma and Peter are, and that they acted in such an irrational manner only because they were so heartbroken. In every scene they are together, Day and Slate are effortlessly charming and funny, while also bringing the best out of each other. So much so that you’re almost immediately pining for them to get together.

Day and Slate’s impressive performances are needed, because the rest of the cast struggle to make their mark. Jacinto is the only stand-out co-star – he’s perfect as an overly-intense high school theatre director. Eastwood just about holds his own, which he deserves credit for since he’s primarily known for more action-orientated fare. But considering how impressive she was in Jane The Virgin and still is in Carmen Sandiego, you can’t help but have expected more laughs from Rodriguez.

But these are only minor quibbles, as Day and Slate’s efforts are so strong that I Want You Back remains sweet and funny. Sure, it might follow the same beats as other romantic-comedies, but the film is so comforting and satisfying that you can instantly forgive its brief forays into unoriginality.

I Want You Back is released on Amazon Prime on February 11