Jenny Slate (Hotel Artemis; Polka King) plays a woman in eternal arrested development named Emma in I Want You Back. She is a little immature, has roommates almost half her age, and treats her body more like a 7-11 than a temple. Her new best bud, Peter, is practically her complete opposite.
He is conservative and plays it safe. He is like a comfortable shoe you wear at home, but you wouldn’t get caught dead in public with. They have in common that they have both been dumped by their exes for not being more like themselves.
So, they hatch a plan to befriend their exes in the hopes of breaking them up and having them come back to them. They get to know each other during their dreams, and Emma tells Peter what love is to her. She wants a person who says the hell with putting my airplane safety mask on first. She wants a man who ignores airline safety guidelines.
The kind that is so in love with their partner, they jump up to put the mask on their loved on before they get to their own.
So, after the predictable plot plays out, Emma and Peter realize they are suitable for each other. How? After their plan blows up in their face, they are forced to fly home together; sitting next to each other across the aisles. As they hit turbulence on the lift-off, all the masks pop out from the ceiling.
Peter unbuckled his seatbelt, jumped up, and put the mask on Emma before sitting down and placing it on his face. They both then look at each other and let it soak in that they are in love.
I assume the plane crashes moments later, but the film ends right after.
While I would like to explain the ending by adding 14% of all plane crashes that occur during the takeoff or initial climb, the filmmakers are telling the story of a mature kind of love. A love that is partially blind and that is built for the long term. The type of love that compliments each other. The script explores two personality types.
Writers Isaac Aptaker and Elizabeth Berger (Love, Simon) and director Jason Orley (Big Time Adolescence) aren’t just interested in how they fit like puzzle pieces. They use each one as a mirror to reflect their own needs and come to appreciate the type of partner they need.
Jerry Maguire said it best as they both may be thinking, “You complete me.” Then again, don’t forget, the plane probably crashes.
