Let me start this review by clarifying something. The title implies that this review will be positive, but it is, in fact, not. The film “Regretting You,” an adaptation of the Colleen Hoover novel “Regretting You,” is an objectively terrible film with little to no redeemable qualities. I knew that for a fact going in, and watching the film has not changed my opinion. However, despite the fact that this movie is very bad on almost every level, I still enjoyed the film. It’s a paradox.
Let’s start with the negatives. First, the plot. This movie makes absolutely zero sense. It’s extremely melodramatic, with characters having traits that feel like they are there just to be quirky (like the main guy, Miller, being obsessed with films) and that never really have much of an impact on the plot. Also, the lead girl, main character Clara, is honestly pretty terrible, and treats Miller terribly throughout the film, especially in the end. I was honestly rooting for them to break up. Also, it felt like plot points were being brought up and dropped every second, like the reveal that Jonah’s son probably isn’t his biological kid has little to no impact on his character outside of one scene where he is mad. It just does not work.
The next most awful part of this film is its acting. Everyone is delivering the most hamfisted, over-the-top performances of their lives. Every line felt like it was the most awful or the most sarcastic thing to ever happen in their lives. I think I rolled my eyes more times at this movie’s dialogue than I have ever in my life. It felt fake; every actor’s performance felt insane, especially Mckenna Grace’s, which stands out as possibly one of the most inconsistent performances of this year. I don’t know what she is thinking or feeling in any scene. Also, just another dumb thing about her character, it’s just stupid that she thinks that she is the reason her father and aunt died because she texted them while they were driving. It made absolutely zero sense. The only saving grace in the acting department was Clancy Brown as Hank, but he is only in two scenes, so that performance does not help the film.
I honestly could go on and on. The filmmaking is utterly terrible. The movie’s understanding of teenagers is laughable at best. The editing feels stiff, with the use of texting being honestly terribly integrated on screen. It’s a really bad movie. Despite the movie’s terrible production, I really enjoyed watching it. I honestly really don’t understand why, but I couldn’t help but admire the film’s earnest attempt to tell an interesting story, even though it falls flat on its face. The acting, the story, everything was bad, but that only fueled my enjoyment. I enjoyed watching this film explode in front of me, with every melodramatic line, every stupid plot beat eliciting great joy in me. It was so bad that it was good.
So, can I recommend “Regretting You”? Yes, for two reasons. If you like romance movies, you are probably going to enjoy this movie no matter what, and two, even if you don’t like romances, you can still enjoy how bad this movie is at basically everything it does. I’m certainly happy that I watched it. I only hope that other Colleen Hoover movies are just as enjoyable as this one.
