Faith-based movies don’t really bother me.  They speak to a specific crowd, and drive home values that make those movie goers comfortable.  If the films strike a discord in the messaging, the filmmaking is usually so hokey that the movies are easy to ignore.  The odd exception exists (Unplanned, 2019’s worst movie) but, otherwise, these movies are like water off a duck’s back.  Fickle faith-based movies, on the other hand….

Someone Like You, based on a novel written by New York Times bestselling author Karen Kingsbury, waffles more than a pancake house.  Adapted by actor-turn-filmmaker Tyler Russell, this romantic drama wants to pitch an open definition of family from an adoption perspective but, also, understands an audience’s competitive desire to “pick a side”.  This is a classic case of a filmmaker’s heart battling with their brain, and resulting in a cat’s game.

Nashville zookeeper Andi Allen (Kiss and Cry’s Sarah Fisher) is told by a stranger, Dawson (Jake Allyn), about an unknown sister who recently died.  At first, Andi is devastated;  conflicted towards the family she grew up with.  In an act of defiance, Andi leaves with Dawson to learn more about her biological parents and the sister she never knew, London (Also Fisher, but wearing a badly-applied wig).  In Portland, London’s mourning parents are stunned to not only know their donated embryo made it safely to a new family, but that it helped conceive a healthy, hopeful child.

Someone Like You doesn’t have much of a plot and it isn’t much of a character study.  There are, however, personal conflicts that all revolve around adoption, such as grief and identity.  Russell (who co-wrote the screenplay with Kingsbury) doesn’t avoid the problematic elements of this story, but these are also portrayed through an innocent and naïve lens.  For instance, Dawson’s investigation is driven by his lovesick feelings for London which, you would assume, would become more complicated when he starts developing affection for Andi.  Instead, these feelings are interpreted as a romantic coincidence – Andi is none the wiser.

The movie builds up to a complicated decision: which family is *actually* Andi’s family?  There are suggestions that imply that family are those who love you unconditionally, which is encouraging and in line with the film’s beliefs (anything politically-related is ignored).  However, the movie is curious for Andi to pick;  especially since her heart is drawn to Dawson.  This emotional manipulation may have worked if the role was written for a younger character, but it doesn’t make sense in this context considering Andi is an adult who has no issues travelling and balancing both families.  Competition may interest audiences, but not in this context.  Similar themes are actually juxtaposed much more maturely in a family flick like Instant Family or in the hardcore movie Titane.

Nevertheless, Someone Like You is harmless and wholesome despite not living up to its full potential.

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Addison Wylie: @AddisonWylie