When We First Met
Directed by Ari Sandel
Starring Adam Devine, Alexandra Daddario, Robbie Amell, Shelley Hennig
Now streaming on Netflix
“When We First Met” is the new film from director Ari Sandel, whose previous work “The DUFF” was a supremely charming high school rom-com starring Mae Whitman and Robbie Amell, which came and went in theaters without much of a notice.
“When We First Met,” isn’t even hitting theaters, going directly to Netflix. Hollywood just doesn’t seem to have use for midrange comedies like this anymore, at least on the big screen.
Hopefully its home online gets more eyeballs on this movie — a fun, engaging comedy about Noah (Adam Devine), who pines after his friend Avery (Alexandra Daddario). They had a great meet cute, but it all fizzled romantically from there.
In a “Groundhog Day” twist, Noah discovers a photo booth that lets him go back in time to that first meeting to try and fix what went wrong. And try and try and try.
It’s not the comic masterpiece that is “Groundhog Day,” but it is an endeavor worthy of a stream. It’s the kind of film that used to populate TBS on repeat. You’d put it on from time to time until you realize that you’d seen it 50 times. That’s not a slight.
Devine (“Pitch Perfect”) has a kind of Jack Black quality to him: the funny, goofy everyman, which plays well off Daddario’s more reserved Avery.
Oh, and if you haven’t seen “The DUFF,” watch that too.
