A high-school reunion is the comic occasion for young adults to assess mistakes they already made in life. Old hurts, second chances and new starts make for a mediocre ensemble exercise by writer-director Jamie Linden. Indifferently shot and cut, “10 Years” is one long night in a hotel meeting room with an after-party at a bar. In lieu of flashbacks, a display of snapshots triggers memories for backstories. Revelations include a two-dollar debt from a junior-year field trip to the planetarium, a 200-square-foot apartment in Manhattan, and how a bully intimidated a classmate to play the tuba. A marriage of high-school sweethearts falters, the king and queen of the prom dance a decade late, and an engagement ring makes its way from the glove compartment to a waiting finger. In the last ten minutes or so, “10 Years” hits a few sweet notes of the heart but it’s too late. With Channing Tatum, who co-produced; Lynn Collins, Jenna Dewan-Tatum, Rosario Dawson, Justin Long, Chris Pratt, Brian Geraghty, Ari Graynor, Aubrey Plaza, Oscar Issac, Ron Livingston, Kate Mara, Max Minghella, Anthony Mackie. 90m. (Bill Stamets)
“10 Years” opens Friday at 600 North, Kerasotes Showplace and Cinemark Evanston.
Ray Pride is Newcity’s film critic and a contributing editor to Filmmaker magazine.
His multimedia history of Chicago “Ghost Signs” will be published soon. Previews of the project are on Twitter and on Instagram as Ghost Signs Chicago. More photography on Instagram.
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A high-school reunion is the comic occasion for young adults to assess mistakes they already made in life. Old hurts, second chances and new starts make for a mediocre ensemble exercise by writer-director Jamie Linden. Indifferently shot and cut, “10 Years” is one long night in a hotel meeting room with an after-party at a bar. In lieu of flashbacks, a display of snapshots triggers memories for backstories. Revelations include a two-dollar debt from a junior-year field trip to the planetarium, a 200-square-foot apartment in Manhattan, and how a bully intimidated a classmate to play the tuba. A marriage of high-school sweethearts falters, the king and queen of the prom dance a decade late, and an engagement ring makes its way from the glove compartment to a waiting finger. In the last ten minutes or so, “10 Years” hits a few sweet notes of the heart but it’s too late. With Channing Tatum, who co-produced; Lynn Collins, Jenna Dewan-Tatum, Rosario Dawson, Justin Long, Chris Pratt, Brian Geraghty, Ari Graynor, Aubrey Plaza, Oscar Issac, Ron Livingston, Kate Mara, Max Minghella, Anthony Mackie. 90m. (Bill Stamets)
