Movie Review: Back In The Day (2014)

Would you go to your school reunion?  How much will have changed?  Is your life better than if you had stayed?  Is this scenario a somewhat played out trope? Like an episode of Soap, you might be confused, but all these questions will be answered in Back In The Day.

Struggling actor Jim Owens (Michael Rosenbaum) is finding life to be more than difficult and has begun to question his shallow existence, whereby he ambles along, dating much younger women and failing to carve out a career or meaningful life for himself.  When an invitation to his school reunion arrives, he is tempted to go back and escape his day to day life and relive some old memories.  His three best friends, Len (Kristoffer Polaha), Skunk (Harland Williams), and T (Isaiah Mustafa) have all moved on with their lives and are married, have careers and families.  Coincidentally, his old school sweetheart, Lori (Morena Baccarin) is about to get married, much to Jim’s annoyance.  Against this backdrop, Jim tries to bring back the ‘glory days’.

If this plot sounds familiar, it’s because it is. A million of these films have been made since the ’70s and this one brings absolutely nothing new to the mix.  As you would imagine, things play out in the plot pretty much as you would expect, with a veritable ‘treasure trove’ of clichés being wheeled out to prop up the storyline.  In some regards, the jokes are obviously clichéd, but I am not sure if this is intentional, like some kind of comment on formulaic comedies being made, but it is more likely that it just doesn’t quite hit the mark.

This is written and directed by Michael Rosenbaum (Smallville), who is an actor I like and as such was expecting more from him.  His previous work and collaborations with James Gunn indicate a greater wit than is on display here, so I can’t explain why this film fell flat.  That isn’t to say that there isn’t merit in the film and it is an enjoyable way to spend 90 minutes. The problem is that it could have been so much more, but there are some annoying, troublesome elements, mainly in sections of lowbrow humor where it seems the cheap option.

One of the good things about the film is the cast, which also includes Emma Caulfield (Bandwagon, Buffy), Jay R. Ferguson (Mad Men), and Mike Hagerty, among others, who add an immense amount to the film, and without them, this material would have failed completely.  The main characters all have believable relationships and the rapport between the actors really works. This does give me the suspicion that it may have been more enjoyable to make than watch.  Definitely, if this had been a Rob Schneider movie, I suspect it wouldn’t have worked as well as it did.

Generally, this seems like a passion project for Rosenbaum and it looks relatively conventionally shot with a small budget.  It has been filmed well, but it would have been nice to see some more invention and edge in the whole project.  Too often, rather than chase the grittier, edgier material, some lowbrow gags have been used and this is a shame as Rosenbaum is capable of so much more.

If you want a generic, amiable 90 minutes, then this will appease. The cast (Rosenbaum, Baccarin, and Caulfield especially) are as engaging as ever, but lower expectations going in.