Film Review: Hidden Gem ‘The Last Five Years’ Launches Anna Kendrick as a Serious Singer

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CHICAGO – Perhaps you’ve heard Anna Kendrick dabble in that thing called “singing” with her cutesy “Cups” on the radio, her runaway princess role in “Into the Woods” or “Pitch Perfect”. But apparently it takes an under-the-radar indie film that adapts a commercially failed off-Broadway play for her to shine as a dramatic actress and especially carry the tune as a powerful, spine-chilling singer.

“The Last Five Years” is a tough watch, but it’s real – not in the way “Schindler’s List” is, but more like how “Birdman” is an honest portrayal of the behind the scenes of putting up a Broadway show in New York. And instead of the real life of staging a play, “The Last Five Years” is the true story of the burdens and blessings of an artistic male/female relationship merged with the nightmares and paid-off dreams of living as a struggling artist. I love this story’s truth instead of being lied to with a glamorized version of it through rose-colored glasses.

HollywoodChicago.com Oscarman rating: 4.0/5.0
Rating: 4.0/5.0

Based on Tony-winning writer Jason Robert Brown’s (“Parade,” “Bridges of Madison County”) failed marriage to Theresa O’Neill, Kendrick takes some convincing to pull off the role of the “shiksa goddess” in the film adaptation.

She’s more of the girl next door versus the play’s bombshells: Lauren Kennedy in 2001 from the local stage premiere at Northlight Theatre in Skokie, Ill. and then Sherie Rene Scott in the 2002 off-Broadway failure. The play briefly went off-Broadway again in 2013 with Betsy Wolfe in the leading role of Cathy.

StarRead Adam Fendelman’s full review of “The Last Five Years”.

Though Kendrick isn’t the first leading lady who’d come to mind to fill the role of the non-Jewish bombshell with powerhouse musical theatre lungs, she quickly sells it from the evocative intro song “Still Hurting” and leaves you sold through the final number.

And her match with Jeremy Jordan – a Broadway actor known for “Newsies” and “Bonnie & Clyde” – equally balances this 95% all-musical screen adaptation with chemistry you can actually feel between them.

Attempting to broaden its audience beyond the few people who saw it live, the film didn’t come quickly or easy. Brown’s former wife, Theresa O’Neill, threatened legal action on the grounds that the story of the musical represented her relationship with Brown too closely.

“The Last Five Years” stars Anna Kendrick, Jeremy Jordan, Tamara Mintz, Cassandra Inman, Bettina Bresnan, Charly Bivona, Lily LaGravenese and Robert Immerman from writer and director Richard LaGravenese based on the musical play by Jason Robert Brown. The film, which has a running time of 93 minutes, opened in Chicago exclusively at the Logan Theatre on Feb. 20, 2015 and is also available On Demand and on Amazon Instant Video. It is rated “PG-13” for sexual material, brief strong language and a drug image.

StarContinue for Adam Fendelman’s full review of “The Last Five Years”.

Jeremy Jordan and Anna Kendrick in The Last Five Years
Jeremy Jordan and Anna Kendrick in “The Last Five Years”.
Image credit: RADiUS-TWC

StarContinue for Adam Fendelman’s full review of “The Last Five Years”.

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