In "Grosse Point Blank," John Cusack, a hit-man, attends his high school reunion and to the strains of Queen's "Under Pressure," gazes at a classmate's infant. The child's mom tells him that when you're a teen, you think your life is over when you grow up and have a family, but really, "it's just beginning." Would that that kind of insight was more frequent in "Ten Years," in which representatives from all the typical cliques attend their high school reunion, for the reasons quoted in the tagline. Like real life reunions, there's a lot of intoxication, true confessions and mundane conversation. The one bright spot is Chris Pratt, who plays a former bully turned family man, determined to "apologize" to everyone he used to torment. (Sample attempt to do this: "Wow, you look all normal and (bleep).") Pratt throws himself into the role with an abandon I wished some of the other actors had.
"Ten Years," is oddly devoid of pop culture and historic event references that you might expect. This might mean it won't seem too dated eventually, but it also makes it bland. No one mentions the current economic recession (that I recall) or brings up the difficulty of finding/keeping a job, any job. While this might be a downer, it still seems a strange omission. The big secrets the characters are concealing are more generalized. It's like eavesdropping on a real life reunion, but with movies, I at least want more drama than I saw here.
25 out of 41 found this helpful