I enjoy these two together so much it's difficult to understand why others do not.
They have that chemistry that works.
American Ultra was marketed as an action stoner comedy. And yet the romance element in this film was the heart and soul of this film thanks to Jesse and Kristen's undeniable chemistry.
During the past 5 years, credible romantic chemistry was quite rare, even when it came to films which were supposedly primarily about romance. For example, in 2011, while the chemistry between Rachel McAdams and Owen Wilson in
Midnight in Paris was quite good, I wouldn't say the same about the chemistry in other films in this genre such as between Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston in
Just Go with It, between Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts in
Larry Crowne or between Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis in
Friends with Benefits.
Same could be said about romance films released in 2012. While I enjoyed watching the chemistry between Emma Watson and Logan Lerman unfold in
The Perks of Being a Wallflower, not so much with Emily Blunt and Jason Segel in
The Five-Year Engagement. While Rachel McAdams had great chemistry with Ryan Gosling in 2004's
The Notebook and in
Midnight in Paris as I mentioned previously, her chemistry wasn't anywhere as evident with Channing Tatum in
The Vow. Both Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence had stellar performances in
Silver Linings Playbook, but yet for some reason, the chemistry between them seemed contrived, and true love, lacking. Jessica Biel's chemistry with Gerard Butler fell flat much more often than it worked in
Playing for Keeps.
In 2013,
American Hustle was loaded with good performances. However, even then, the romantic chemistry between Christian Bale and Jennifer Lawrence/Bradley Cooper and Amy Adams, somehow seemed forced--no sparks were flying between these couples--well at least not of the romantic variety. Blue Jasmine likewise had several great acting performances, yet again for some reason, the romantic chemistry between the leads, Alec Baldwin, Cate Blanchett, Peter Sarsgaard, Sally Hawkins and Bobby Cannavale was almost nonexistent. As far as other films in the romance genre also released this year, such as
The Big Wedding which didn't even appear to be about the engaged couple Amanda Seyfried and Ben Barnes who were almost completely overshadowed by the likes of Robert DeNiro, Susan Sarandon, Katherine Heigl and Robin Williams. And for those who criticize Kristen's performance in
The Twilight Saga films, all I can say is her romantic chemistry with Robert Pattinson was through the roof compared to the intimacy or lack thereof between Teresa Palmer and Nicholas Hoult in
Warm Bodies.
A pleasant surprise in 2014 was the realistic chemistry between Lily Collins and Sam Claflin in
Love, Rosie in terms of credible romantic chemistry between the leads, with repressed sexual tension and longing so thick, you could almost cut it with a knife. I could also feel the love between Shailene Woodley and Ansel Elgort and the emotional roller coaster they bring to
The Fault in Our Stars. To put it bluntly, watching Michelle Monaghan and James Marsden courting was akin to watching a poorly made soap opera in
The Best of Me. The chemistry between onscreen buddies Miles Teller and Zac Efron was much more noteworthy than the chemistry Miles supposed to have had with Mackenzie Davis and Zac with Imogen Poots in
That Awkward Moment. Alex Pettyfer and Gabriella Wilde make for a very handsome couple and yet these leads have very little chemistry and emotional involvement for the audience to get sentimental over, so I found it difficult to fathom how the film entitled
Endless Love could be about that. And then we have
Winter's Tale, starring Collin Farrell and Jessica Brown Findlay, which was supposedly a romantic drama about true love, yet came across more like a rom-com which I had a difficult time taking seriously since much of the storyline made little sense.
From the 2015 releases, in my opinion,
The Age of Adaline towers over the competition from a credible romance perspective. While I wouldn't consider this film Best Picture Oscar worthy, I strongly believe Blake Lively deserves a major acting award nomination for her performance in this film. It was that good. While Michiel Huisman's performance wasn't as noteworthy, he did have good chemistry with Blake. Then we have popular romance films such as
Fifty Shades of Grey starring Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan had almost zero romantic chemistry between them, unless of course one equates true love with sadomasochism and domestic violence, with kissing and dancing interspersed.
The Wedding Ringer with Josh Gad and Kaley Cuoco who were overshadowed by Kevin Hart and Focus, which were quite entertaining, yet were lacking when it came to believable romantic chemistry between the lead characters, which made the film almost entirely a comedy instead of the rom-com it supposedly was.
So while Hollywood continues to churn out romance films, because understandably there will always be a demand for films in this genre, many are lacking in credible romance. While I don't expect a romance film to idealize, or more appropriately, romanticize romance, I'm finding it increasingly difficult to get into a romantic mood when too may Hollywood romance films produced nowadays are about unlikable characters, with no redeeming qualities to speak of, who are involved in dysfunctional onscreen romances, who often do little more than treat their love interest in a shamelessly manipulative manner in a twisted game of one-upmanship and expect me to fall head-over-heels in love with such acting performances/films.
Perhaps if I took great pleasure in being involved in dysfunctional relationships in real life, would I enjoy living vicariously through the performance of a lead character in such a film. However, I'm a hopeless romantic who would rather experience healthy/give-and-take intimate relationships such as the one portrayed in a film. And that's the irony of
American Ultra--it was primarily about two characters who were involved in a dysfunctional romance, being that one of them was a tortured and brainwashed super soldier, while the other was part of an agency responsible for committing these heinous acts against the man she would fall in love with. So in essence, both Kristen and Jesse portrayed unlikable characters, yet audiences and critics alike fell in love with them. The chemistry Kristen and Jesse brought to this film was more realistic and heartfelt than but a small number of films released by Hollywood production companies within the past five years.
Em brought me here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qk1BpkbcWzc
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dapbaum
9 years ago
Obviously, I am a superfan of Kristen as well as Jesse. It will be interesting to see how their chemistry works in Woods unnamed film due to be released next year.
A couple of things, Blake also in in Woody's film and when reviewing pics Woody allowed to be public, Kristen is carrying a stuffed panda.
Remember in Adventureland,
James ( Jesse) loses the Giant panda due to a big knife and Em (Kristen) help.
Another film to be released next year, with Nicholas Hoult and Kristen is Drake Doremus, Equal. The reviews from the premier have been positive. A very sensitive longing love story set in futuristic society that is without emotions.
Several reviewers commented on Kristen and Nick's on screen chemistry and audible gasps were noticed when they simply touch each other for the first time.
If interested the story synopsis is available along with reviews as well as a very short trailer.
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LLOwens
9 years ago
Another film to be released next year, with Nicholas Hoult and Kristen is Drake Doremus, Equal. The reviews from the premier have been positive. A very sensitive longing love story set in futuristic society that is without emotions.
Several reviewers commented on Kristen and Nick's on screen chemistry and audible gasps were noticed when they simply touch each other for the first time.
Judging by the early critic reviews of
Equals, I'm guessing the general consensus opinion of film critics will praise Kristen's onscreen chemistry with Nicholas, while not offering as much praise for the film itself. Unfortunately, when a film flops, some blame Kristen, when the reality is, Kristen's performance is often one of the best, if not best part of a film she stars in.
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