Film Review: THE GREATEST HITS (2024): Lucy Boynton and Justin H. Min Almost Save a High-Concept but Occasionally Formulaic Romance

The Greatest Hits Review

The Greatest Hits (2024) Film Review, a movie written and directed by Ned Benson and starring Lucy Boynton, Justin H. Min, David Corenswet, Austin Crute, Andi Ju, Nelly Furtado, Clementine Creevy, Tom Yi, Jenne Kang, Jackson Kelly, Alyssa Hunter, Mary Eileen O’Donnell, Rory Keane, Shelby Cobb, Thomas Ochoa, Samuel Lim and Marc Valera.

Director Ned Benson’s The Greatest Hits is a fusion of almost every other offbeat romantic movie that has graced the screen over the past 20 years or so. (500) Days of Summer and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind immediately come to mind but the basic problem with Benson’s film is that the movie relies on its intriguing concept to tell its story but the character development ends up getting lost in the shuffle. While the performances are all likable, the film steers towards its conclusion in such a way that you’ll get a familiar vibe as the themes of letting go of the past and embracing the future come into play in more ways than one.

Lucy Boynton plays Harriet, a librarian who holds onto her past relationship with a man named Max (David Corenswet). The “hook” of the movie is that a song can take her back to the past. Max is now deceased in the present due to a car crash. Harriet tries to save him by steering his car the other way but you know how hard it is to change the past during the duration of just one song, right? Harriet loved Max and still yearns to be with him. However, his passing has left her feeling isolated in the world as she attends a support group at which she doesn’t say anything.

Austin Crute serves as Harriet’s DJ friend, Morris Martin. This character is written familiarly but Crute has been an interesting actor on the indie movie circuit who has risen up to longer lasting parts such as this one. As Harriet’s confidante, Crute gives the movie some of its more humorous and relatable punches in the scenes between him and Boynton.

The romantic flashbacks and memories of Max that Harriet experiences are reminiscent of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind but this new movie has a soundtrack that would give (500) Days of Summer a run for its money. So, you can see how those past movies feel like inspirations for this film. The Greatest Hits is a prime example of a movie made to premiere at a film festival that blends elements of better movies to try to tug at the heartstrings.

Boynton is amazingly complex in terms of her performance but the movie doesn’t really let her get into the character of Harriet as deeply as she could have. Harriet is a lost soul who finds her rhythm through music which motivates her when times are tough. Boynton gets the complexities of the role right on the money but sometimes the dialogue feels a bit stilted which detracts from the quality of the film as a whole.

What the movie lacks in terms of depth, it makes us for a bit with its attractive cast which includes Justin H. Min as a new man, David, who could be Harriet’s salvation in life, if she lets him be. David has also faced tremendous loss in his life and has that kind of positive attitude which could affect Harriet and change her whole outlook on life in both its past and present versions.

The Greatest Hits doesn’t dig deep but it thinks it does. Because of its concept, the movie thinks it’s reinventing the romantic dramedy but the film only works in spurts. The love story works better when it focuses on David and Harriet rather than Harriet and Max. Corenswet is good-looking and plays the part convincingly but something is lacking because the two love interests for Harriet feel like night and day. One guy is good for her and the other was OK for her but the past must be overcome in order to make the present more tolerable as these stories typically go. It’s a tale as old as cinema and the hook of the music transporting Harriet back and forth in time is its new contribution to a genre which is pretty much well worn otherwise.

At the end of the day. The Greatest Hits is all about its high-concept premise. Thankfully, the chemistry is there between Min and Boynton to make us care about their characters for a bit. Unfortunately, The Greatest Hits is more enjoyable when it takes on the more familiar themes it tackles than when it deals with the original aspects of the script which, though unique, feel like they could have been eliminated altogether to bring the core elements of the story into view.

Any movie with Nelly Furtado in a supporting role (such as the one the singer takes on here) is a curiosity piece and I wouldn’t want to steer anyone away from seeing The Greatest Hits who may enjoy it. However, those audiences who never miss a romantic movie will get a familiar vibe from it even though the soundtrack is solid and the nature of the romances are occasionally touching. If you only watch romance movies sporadically, this movie could be more entertaining and more vibrant than your run-of-the-mill love story.

Rating: 6/10

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