Having been one of the last decade’s most prolific Hollywood stars, Jennifer Lawrence hasn’t half lain low in recent years. Between 2011 and 2017, Lawrence averaged three major releases per annum. Since 2020, the Time 100 listed Oscar winner hasn’t even knocked out one a year. What could coax such a talent back to Tinseltown? In 2019, it was the promise of working with Adam McKay. In 2022, the opportunity to try a hand at film production itself appealed. As for 2023’s No Hard Feelings, which hit cinemas on Wednesday, it was simply the funniest script the star had ever read. Hm.
Where most jukebox musicals weave their nonsense narrative through the best hits of a band with tenuous abandon, Greatest Days stands apart by seeking story in tone and musical resonance. This is the “official” Take That musical. A cinematic translation of The Band, Tim Firth’s modestly successful West End production from some years ago. Three decades of chart smashers thrust gusto into the heart of a surprisingly melancholic story, singing testament to the power of music to change a broken record.
The year is 2017. DC’s Justice League is finally game and set to challenge Marvel’s thus far almighty dominance in cinematic world building. The film bombed. Few emerged unscathed. Gal Gadot shone, of course, but it was franchise newcomers Jason Momoa and Ezra Miller that stole the show. Let’s fast forward. While Gadot and Momoa saw solo outings rapidly release, it’s taken six long years for Miller to win his own run in the sun. Owing to a string of high profile indiscretions and a very public mental health crisis, it may well be his last. Perhaps that’s why Flash feels so strongly like one last DCEU hurrah. There are other reasons – a reboot looms, for one – but some must go unspoiled.
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