It's Us

It's Us is an endearing, emotionally charged, and sometimes heartbreakingly realistic exploration of love, relationships, and the hurdles of married life as the characters navigate through their own individual dreams and disappointments. The film was released in 2015 and effectively captures the essence of modern love and personal growth, intelligently woven into a narrative that resounds with the viewers from different walks of life. The film is directed by Rajeev Dassani and stars Eliza Coupe, John Dale, and Andrew Friedman.

Eliza Coupe of Happy Endings fame plays Claire, a woman who is at a crossroads in life. She is at the peak of her career, being an accomplished actress, but grapples with the difficulty of reconciling her professional success and the dissatisfaction she feels in her personal life. Claire is seemingly content but can't shake the feeling that something isn't quite right in her relationship with her husband.

John Dale plays Robert, Claire's husband, who unlike his wife, is finding it hard to score a breakthrough in his own career. As an under-employed theatre director, he longs to create his own work but is trapped by his circumstances and the haunting specter of unfulfilled potential. Cut from a different social cloth than Claire, Robert's normalcy and lack of ambition begin to wear on their relationship, fraying the ties that have held them together for years.

Andrew Friedman plays the part of Walter, a wealthy film producer and an old friend of Claire’s who could be her way out of her increasingly suffocating life. He presents a world far removed from her everyday life, exuding charm and sophistication, creating a stark contrast to the mundane life that Robert offers Claire.

The movie chronicles how Claire and Robert's relationship is shaken to its core when Claire's old flame resurfaces. It also captures the reality of how, after a few years of marriage, relationships often turn complacent, comfortable yet un-exciting. The story provides a torturously accurate depiction of how people attempt to resist midlife crisis, dreams unfulfilled, and thwarted ambition, alongside the challenges of maintaining a marriage.

Meanwhile, on a professional front, as Robert struggles to secure a stable career, Claire is presented with an opportunity by Walter that could pivot her career to a higher level. However, it also holds the possibility to widen the growing rift between her and Robert. Thus, her love life and career become intertwined in a complicated matrix of decisions, dilemmas, and desires.

One of the key highlights of It's Us is its script, which is an immaculate blend of realistic dialogue and human emotions — love, jealousy, ambition, and compromise, all painted larger-than-life. The film invites the audience to immerse themselves into the lives of the central characters, experiencing their most intimate struggles, triumphs, and tragedies. The performances of the lead actors are compelling, breathing life into their characters and effectively communicating their internal torments without having to explicitly express them.

It's Us beautifully depicts the whirlwind of complexities that come with relationships and the search for personal fulfillment. The film raises poignant questions about love, ambition, personal growth, and what it means to truly be happy – it's a story of realizing who we are, who we want to be, and whether the love we have is the love we need.

In conclusion, It's Us is more than a love story — it is a melancholic yet hopeful exploration of the human capacity to love, strive, dream, and of course, to make hard decisions for the sake of personal happiness. It lays bare the comforts and hardships that come with being 'us.' Whether you're in a relationship, married, or single, this film has something to say to you. In its depiction of love, longing, and the realities of life, the film makes you reflect, think, and feel, making it an engaging, absorbing experience from start to end.