Last year I was obsessed with Thanksgiving; it was a genre film that brought in grander ideas while still offering quality for those who come to the theater looking for cliches. It Ends With Us is this year’s Thanksgiving. The trio of Blake Lively, Justin Baldoni and Brandon Skienar provide undeniable chemistry that radiates from the screen. If the actors can pull together and support each other in endearing ways, a romantic comedy will always get off the ground, no matter how cheesy the script. It’s been a while and I’d forgotten how much fun a great romantic comedy can be.

The most emotional part for me was a personal one. Lively looks exactly like an ex I once had. She was incredibly beautiful and incredibly sensitive and way cooler than me. At some point I messed up – life isn’t fair.

Anyway …

It Ends With Us does a great job of pacing itself. While some heavy-handed explanations are awkwardly inserted into the opening conversation between Lively’s Lily Bloom and Baldoni’s Ryle Kincaid, the film takes its time to get to its main thesis. At one point I wrote in my notes that the film lacked structure, but it skewed my expectations. I’m so used to movies showing us their cards early in the story and then playing them out one by one over the next few hours.

Baldoni, who also serves as director, keeps his plans well under wraps. There’s a lot to handle, too, as this is a story that depicts the complications of love in both adolescence and adolescence: how both can ebb and flow, the short-sighted giddiness, and the struggle to make sure the beginning isn’t the best part. Love doesn’t change much, the parallels stay the same no matter how old you get – the problem is that people change. Outside factors crop up and keep you from doing what you want most: finding the person who will stop you sleeping alone and end up asking you how your day was and being interested in the answer.

Baldoni knows that the most important thing is to first captivate the audience and make us blush at the unfolding lovebird romance before revealing what he really wants to address.

Tackling a subject as heavy as domestic violence in a film where people are just satisfying their desire for a happy ending is a Herculean task. Baldoni is able to hide the obvious in plain sight. You have no clues as to what is going to happen; the first time it happens, you assume it’s an accident. The second time, you suspect it, but you can still fool yourself. You want Ryle and Lily to succeed, so you don’t want to admit the truth that’s right in front of your eyes. Lily doesn’t want to admit it either, so we go down the rabbit hole with her.

This is the most truthful account I have ever seen on this subject. The truth is that these things never happen in dramatic revelations in front of crowds. They happen at home, behind closed doors in front of the people you trust most and believe would never harm you.

Also, I’ve never seen a film that deceives its audience so thoroughly in the first two acts. Lured into a false sense of security, we think we’ll laugh a little and cry a little, and that’s it. But the film keeps adding layer after layer. It keeps giving you blows to the heart. Baldoni complements his performance by being able to manipulate his voice between sweet innocence and malice when you least expect it. He’s so light for so long that you don’t believe he could ever get so dark.

We are doomed to spend our lives chasing the ghosts of our romantic past: what could have been, what might have been, what should have been. When I lose another love, I know it’s another missed chance at lifelong love, the kind of love you can only get when you’re young and stupid. As time goes by, the likelihood increases that we’ll stay with someone who isn’t worth our time.

It Ends With Us does a great job of exploring this theme, making it the best romantic comedy since Crazy Stupid Love over a decade ago. I might even go see it twice.

Critics rating: 8.8/10

Jack Simon is a mogul trainer and writer/director who enjoys eating food he can’t afford, traveling to places beyond his budget, and creating art about skiing, food, and travel despite being broke. Visit his website jacksimonmakes.com to see his travelogue series “Jack’s Jitney.” You can email him at [email protected] for any kind of inquiry.