I absolutely love the rom-coms buried in the sci-fi action thrillers, and Michelle Monaghan is the queen of that. I'm looking at you, Mission: Impossible 3.

This diary entry was a part of a 52 Weeks Challenge (Week 4: Time Travel). The themes of the challenge, my more comprehensive reviews, and theme recommendations are collected in that list & also included below.

LIGHT SPOILERS FOLLOW IN 'COMMENTS'

Theme: Time Travel

Comments: I was planning on watching this film this week anyway, and then I found out it had time travel (I think from The Matrix-esque in the ruminations on fate, free will, and making our own choices in life, but I feel dives a lot more into the personal side of those themes rather than the philosophical side most stories would go down. Closure is an incredibly important theme of this movie and I think it really elevates it to an emotional thrill ride rather than just a cerebral one. Cast-wise, can you really ever go wrong with Jake G? Get him an Oscar already, before it's too late. And Michelle Monaghan, while she doesn't get a whole lot to do in this, is a super essential ray of sunshine in what is mostly a pessimistic story, save the ending. Vera Farmiga also brings a super nuanced performance to her role, playing her part in the story exactly as she needs to. The production, set design, and special effects are all up to scratch and pretty much never detract from the experience. This was awesome.

Theme Recommendations I've Already Seen: The Terminator