The Greatest Hits
Written and Directed by Ned Benson
Starring Lucy Boynton, Justin H. Min, and David Corenswet
Running Time: 1 hour and 34 minutes
Rated PG-13
In theaters April 5, on Hulu April 12

by Ian Hrabe, Staff Writer

Stop me if you've heard this one before. A young woman has a chance to save the love of her life when she discovers that the mixtape they made together can transport her back in time. That's the logline from the 2022 movie Press Play, which I'm pretty sure no one saw, but it could also be the logline for The Greatest Hits which...utilizes the exact same premise. I'm not implying that anything untoward went down in regard to this plot, but I am implying that it joins the long legacy of cinematic diptychs. The "Twin Films" Wikipedia page has some dubious entries, but by and large this is a cinematic phenomena as long as movies have been a thing (stretching all the way back to dueling Ivanhoe movies in 1913). I mention this because it has been a personal fascination of mine since the back-to-back twin film releases of Dante's Peak/Volcano (1997) and Deep Impact/Armageddon (1998). While I'm sure a lot of this has to do with studios trying to scoop the heat of their rivals, the tiny optimist that resides in my cold little heart likes to think there is something in the collective unconscious driving this cinematic synergy. 

In the case of The Greatest Hits, I wouldn't have even learned that it is a twin film if the movie had been better. The premise is fun: It has been 2 years since Harriet (Lucy Boynton) lost her boyfriend Max (David Corenswet) in a car accident. After sustaining a massive head injury in the crash, Harriet can now time travel whenever she hears a song important to her and Max's relationship. She devotes all of her energy to finding a way to save Max via time travel. At her grief support group she meets David (Justin H. Min) and learns to love again. That feels like a pretty tried and true plot right there. Something you would see in a contemporary romance novel by someone like Emily Henry. And the movie plays like that through its first two acts until it starts implying that maybe it's not all just Harriet's way of processing the trauma, but that her musical time travel might actually be real. 

That's a good plot! And it's an especially good plot for the types of romcoms I see a lot of in my role as a dutiful husband. It's just a shame this feels like a Hallmark movie. Writer/Director Ned Benson's only previous directorial effort was 2013's The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby which I'm pretty sure not a lot of people saw, but a lot of people heard of due to its intriguing structure (the movie, about a married couple, was released as three separate films: one telling the story from the wife's point of view, one from the husband's point of view, and one from both points of view). Also interesting is that in the 10 year gap between films Benson's only other credit is contributing to the story of Marvel's Black Widow. Given how clumsy The Greatest Hits is, maybe there's a good reason why he's been out of the industry for so long. 

The script is the prime culprit here, but that's usually the case isn't it. The cast--specifically Boynton and Min--do their level best, but this is one of those movies where the dialogue makes you want to cringe into oblivion. I'm not against heightened, un-naturalistic dialogue if it is strongly written (think Aaron Sorkin), but the dialogue here feels like it was written by someone who has never heard two people have a conversation in real life, much less the young millennials this film chronicles (Benson is pushing 50). It's a bummer because with a few tweaks this one could have been alright. With the heightened premise, a more naturalistic and grounded approach would have made for a compelling contrast. Instead characters say stuff like:

Harriet: They're trying to save the record store.

David: They're an endangered species.

It doesn't matter how talented your cast is, corny lines like that are never going to land. Worse than the dialogue though is the way this movie fails to make any of its relationships feel anything more than surface level. It's already hard to empathize with a grieving character when we meet them in media res, but the device could work here if Harriet and Max's relationship is anything more than a cardboard cutout of a relationship. When we see them together during Harriet's time traveling, it doesn't seem like anything special. Part of this is due to Boynton and Corenswet having zero chemistry (due mostly to Corenswet's primary talent is being generically handsome and nothing else), but nothing about their relationship gives us the context we need to go on this journey with Harriet. When she meets David things start working better, not least because Boynton and Min have much better chemistry, their relationship never feels earned. At no point is there enough data for us to buy into either of these romances. It's a shallow script that leads to a predictably shallow movie. 

The Greatest Hits is an intensely middle-of-the-road indie movie that makes a fun premise as one-note as humanly possible. The one upside is that Lucy Boynton and Justin H. Min come out of this no worse for wear. Min (The Umbrella Academy, After Yang, Beef, Shortcomings) in particular is one of those actors who blows me away anytime I see him and I feel like I'm just waiting for him to get that one role that makes him a superstar. Boynton (Sing Street, Bohemian Rhapsody, The Politician) is in the same boat. Ultimately this movie is a pitstop on their journey to bigger and better things, and it's a shame that a movie with such an intriguing premise and such a strong cast is going to be relegated to being a footnote in the careers of its talented actors.