People We Meet on Vacation
Cast of Characters:
Poppy Wright – Emily Bader
Alex Nilsen – Tom Blythe
Sarah Toval – Sarah Catherine Hook
Trey – Lucien Laviscount
David Nilsen – Miles Heizer
Wanda Wright – Molly Shannon
Jimmy Wright – Alan Ruck
Director – Brett Haley
Writer – Yulin Kuang, Amos Vernon & Nunzio Randazzo
Based on the novel People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry
Producer – Wyck Godfrey, Marty Bowen & Isaac Klausner
Distributor – Netflix
Running Time – 118 minutes
Rated PG-13 for sexual content, drug use, nudity and brief strong language.
Poppy Wright (Emily Bader) and Alex Nilsen (Tom Blythe) are about to embark on a long road trip from Boston College to their shared hometown of Linfield, Ohio. She’s a spunky, free-spirited optimist and he’s an uptight wet blanket, which tells you this trip is definitely gonna go smooth.
Needless to say, it doesn’t.
But faster than you can say rom-com cliché, their polar opposite selves begin to bond over time, and they soon make a pact with each other: each summer, regardless of their relationship status, they’ll take a vacation to a different location. But with each passing year, their commitment to keep things strictly platonic is threatened by the inevitable romantic attractions that arise between them. Will they keep stubbornly resisting or will they finally give in to what is so blatantly right in front of them?
I mean, c’mon. You know how it’s gonna go down.
Rob Reiner’s 1989 classic When Harry Met Sally… was a landmark for the romantic comedy genre. With its emphasis on sharp, conversational dialogue and relatable characters, the hit film defined what would become the modern rom-com formula. Since then, many rom-coms have tried so hard to reach that pinnacle with their spin on the “will-they-won’t-they” trope. Some have come close, but as they say, “often imitated but never duplicated”.
Based on Emily Henry’s 2021 best-selling novel, People We Meet on Vacation follows the When Harry Met Sally… formula to a T, so much so that it’s just begging for comparisons. All the boxes here are checked. Awkward meet cute? Check. Kisses in the rain? Check. Catchy needle drops? Check. The “Oh, no! It’s over for good!” moment? Check. The last minute declaration of love? Check.
If you think I spoiled anything for you, you clearly haven’t seen a single rom-com from the last four decades.
But as the late, great film critic Roger Ebert once said, “It’s not what a movie is about, it’s how it is about it.”, and that’s ultimately what matters. Yes, it’s shamelessly formulaic, and its third act wraps everything up with perhaps too tidy of a bow, but for a good two-thirds of it, People We Meet on Vacation fits the mold of what I like to call a comforting diversion. The substance may be MIA, but you’d have to be practically a corpse to not be swayed at least a little bit by its persistent charm.
Obviously, every rom-com lives and dies by its central pairing, and thankfully, the key asset of People We Meet on Vacation is its strong romantic duo. Both Emily Bader and Tom Blythe are great here, forming an immensely likable dynamic that scores some genuine laughs from the friction caused between Poppy’s aggressive optimism and Alex’s uptight irritability. It’s that effective type of odd couple chemistry that, oddly enough, reminded me less of When Harry Met Sally… and more of Planes, Trains and Automobiles, with Poppy and Alex serving as a modern-day, romantic version of Del Griffith and Neal Page.
Like the novel, the film employs a non-linear narrative structure in following Poppy and Alex’s journeys together, which provides an effective enough attempt at shaking up the genre familiarity and maintaining engagement. Admittedly, director Brett Haley’s efforts to establish any sort of identity to the vacation destinations leaves little to be desired. For a movie that’s all about travel and adventures, it’s kinda baffling why there seems to be little care in providing each location with a unique sense of place. And that’s clearly why the one exception, Poppy and Alex’s New Orleans trip, stands out as the film’s best moment. Granted, for a city as lively as New Orleans, you’d almost certainly have to go out of your way to make it appear drab, so it’s no surprise that the film is as its most vibrant during that vacation set piece, not just in terms of setting, but also character. It’s there that a very playful Poppy spontaneously decides to have her and Alex role play as a newlywed couple, which ultimately leads to a very fun, high-energy dance set to Paula Abdul’s “Forever My Girl”. Bader and Blythe’s chemistry is so electric in those moments, with Bader’s performance, in particular, just radiating pure charisma and effervescence.
The supporting cast, unfortunately, doesn’t fare as well as the two leads. While the performances are fine, their roles feel more like shallow narrative devices for the main characters instead of fully-drawn characters themselves. That said, comic veterans Molly Shannon and Alan Ruck make welcome, albeit brief, appearances as Poppy’s parents, who are far too involved in ways any adult child would absolutely dread. Though their appearances are essentially just extended cameos, they do provide their limited screen time with a few good laughs.
Of course, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see where this is all going. The film attempts to trick you in the third act by making you think the potential love interests are gonna go their separate ways, but, sure enough, at the last minute, we get the chase, the declaration of love and a happily ever after for the two lovebirds. If you were expecting any sort of jaw-dropping, third-act twist… well, I hate to disappoint you.
But formula isn’t necessarily the issue here, it’s the way the film goes about it, as the rom-com takes a jarring shift into melodramatic territory in order to quickly and very conveniently resolve its central question of “will-they-won’t-they”. Key conflicts are rushed to a resolution without any nuance, particularly during a scene between Poppy and Alex’s ex Sarah that attempts closure in an all too tidy a manner. Additionally, character identities are betrayed in the name of achieving true love. Ultimately, it’s a forced happily ever after that rings false.
Does that make it an overall deal-breaker? Not quite. Both Bader and Blythe are quite an appealing rom-com pairing, and their dynamic together is the main reason that the journey to that predictable destination is, for the most part, a breezy good time. It’s just a shame it couldn’t quite stick the landing with a far more authentic conclusion.
Closing Statement: Emily Bader and Tom Blythe’s undeniable charm and chemistry gives People We Meet on Vacation plenty of spark to keep its rom-com flame afire, even if it eventually sizzles out during its melodramatic, formulaic third-act.
Silver Screen Fanatic’s Verdict: I give People We Meet on Vacation a B- (★★½).
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