Alison Brie

Jay Ellis, Kiersey Clemons, Haley Joel Osment, and Danny Pudi also star in Dave Franco's latest directorial effort.

It’s easy to pit two people against each other (especially two women over one guy) for the easy laugh and tension, but Franco and Brie sidestep that trope in the writing and direction rather impressively. It’s always a bit of a gamble when someone known for one profession in the entertainment industry tries their hand at another. The laughs feel earned and perfectly doled out, which works to the advantage of the characters and the finely-tuned story. Reality television was never the destination she had in mind, as she set out to be a documentarian, but it was in the industry that she left her quaint hometown and loved ones for in the first place. Alison Brie bares it all in a film that positions her at the center. The story is grounded and steeped in authenticity from start to finish, making everything that unfolds feel painfully real and plausible. Quickly upon returning to Leavenworth, Washington (a town so charming that even the McDonald’s and Subway look like rustic log cabins), Ally hits up a local bar spot that was a staple for her back in the day. After all, she was the one who decided to call it quits on their relationship, so she could pursue her career in California. They spend the day and night soaking in nostalgia as they reminisce about the weird people they grew up with and indulge in beer and oversized soft pretzels. The film kicks into gear when Ally shows up at Sean’s house uninvited the following day when she decided that she wasn’t going to let him be the one who got away…. (Basically, it’s The Bachelor meets Cupcake Wars.) She’s wrapping up filming and is ready to focus on the new episodes around the corner, but her work is forced to a halt when the show gets surprisingly canceled. They typically have a certain air about them, and a handful of performative and broad comedic moments that remind you that you are indeed watching a movie.

“Somebody I Used to Know” comes dangerously close to being interesting. It's a romantic comedy, but it's almost a twisted drama about a seriously damaged ...

Alison Brie and real-life husband Dave Franco co-wrote anti-Valentine's Day film "Somebody I Used to Know" with a perfect twist.

[told IndieWire](https://www.indiewire.com/2022/08/spin-me-round-jeff-baena-giallo-1234752869/) that she tapped into her personal dating exploits for last year’s “Spin Me Round,” it’s clear that “Somebody I Used to Know” has a personal hinge to both Brie and Franco. “Somebody I Used to Know” doesn’t chalk up a failed relationship to circumstance or even bad choices. Later, Sean complains that Ally “wasted” her past decade choosing the “wrong thing” and ultimately undermining her professional success. Ellis fumbles a bit as Sean, but is just charming enough for us to think that maybe Sean really doesn’t know how manipulative he’s being. “You’re not going to pull some Julia Roberts, ‘My Best Friend’s Wedding’ type shit are you?,” Cassidy asks Ally at one point, perfectly timed with the realization that yes, that’s exactly what Ally is doing. Now this is the moment in which the film can either reward Sean for his outspokenness (à la fellow coming-home career woman rom-com “Sweet Home Alabama) or this is where “Somebody I Used to Know” proves that this is not a film that we already used to know. “Somebody I Used to Know” begins at what usually is the third act of a standard rom-com. Ally, with the mind of an “UnReal” reality producer, quickly identifies the fraying seam at which to tug at to inevitably unravel Cassidy and Sean’s bliss. It’s not so much that Ally wants Sean back, she just needs something to focus on, manipulate, and conquer. Cassidy is the lead singer of a Seattle-based punk band, but she’s grappling with stepping away from touring to be Sean’s picture perfect wife and start making a domestic life together. (Yes, even that Julia Roberts’ classic is name-checked in the film once audiences recognize the beat-for-beat rhythm of a woman determined to ruin a wedding.) While on the surface that may seem like “Somebody” is already

Advertisement: Actor Dave Franco makes working with your wife look easy. I talked to him on "Salon Talks" about co-writing his second film, "Somebody I Used To ...

They're just going through a difficult time in their lives and they're trying to get back to the best version of themselves. I feel like every married person — you're a married guy, I'm a married guy — every married person, we have those thoughts leading up to the wedding day, like, "This is the rest of my life. I was in a spot that I shouldn't have been in, and my older brother was out the back. Because you're right, you say something, they could say, "You jinxed it," or "You never wanted to see us win," and you're just trying to be a good friend. And by the end, it's all out for the world to see and she's kind of back to her purest self. I almost use that approach to this film as well, where the comedy is coming more from the characters and the situations as opposed to throwing out a bunch of one-liners. I feel lucky to say that, but I think a lot of that comes from the fact that I really take my time putting the whole team together. The last time I talked to you, you had directed a horror film and now you're doing this rom-com. And a lot of them say it in kind of a skeptical tone, which leads me to believe that you maybe could imagine working with your own partner. And [Alison](https://www.salon.com/2019/08/09/glow-returns-and-evolves-when-you-get-what-you-were-fighting-for-whats-next/)'s character starts to think like, "Oh man, he's the answer to all my problems." [Listening to Caron](https://www.salon.com/2019/10/12/why-i-wont-raise-my-child-in-my-old-neighborhood-the-one-i-swore-id-never-leave/) and implementing her opinions gave me the power to be heard by other people, many of whom would have never [given my writing a chance](https://www.salon.com/2022/05/02/how-i-started-writing-for-tv-the-case-against-fake-it-til-you-make-it/). And two, Caron did get it — she understood my jokes and timing even though they weren't enough to drive home the points I was trying to make, which is a problem.

The married couple co-wrote the new film Somebody I Used to Know, with Dave Franco directing and Alison Brie starring.

"I have a little bit of an itch to get back to horror or thrillers now," he answers. I think we really wanted to honour the genre in that way, and then also find ways to make it refreshing and unique." "And so it's a lot of like literally acting things out, going back and forth that way," he continues. "Those are the romcoms I go back to – all of these ones from the '80s and '90s. And she also reveals that the pair already have some other ideas percolating, as they look to find their next project to collaborate on. Romcoms as a genre have such specific tropes, so I think it actually becomes easier to identify and lean into those tropes, and then choose where we wanted to go against them, where we wanted to subvert the genre – it became really fun." And she makes my job really easy in that way." "We've worked together a few times before, but this was the first time we've written together," Franco explains. [subscribe now](http://radiotimes.com/magazine-subscription?utm_term=evergreen-article). "But I'd also love to do like a grounded sci-fi project. But what was the process of working together as a couple like? "It is an interesting balancing act," she explains.

A chance run-in with her ex Sean (Top Gun: Maverick's Jay Ellis) leads her to question everything about her life, which only gets more confusing when Cassidy ( ...

The grounded human characters is what allows the rest of the movie to take liberties with reality in the way that most rom-coms do. And as a rom-com, Somebody I Used to Know balances both elements of the genre well. Somebody I Used to Know has a dreaminess to it, a kind of ethereal quality that sets it apart from so many contemporary rom-coms.

Speaking with The A.V. Club, Alison Brie breaks down her new film Somebody I Used To Know and offers an update on the Community movie.

This is the most hopeful any of us have been in a long time.” “Dave would let the cameras roll while Danny and I were messing around, doing bits, and a lot of those would make it into the movie.” [11% OffAll-New Fire TV Cube](https://www.amazon.com/All-new-fire-tv-cube-4k-streaming-device/dp/B09BZZ3MM7?asc_campaign=InlineMobile&asc_refurl=https://www.avclub.com/alison-brie-somebody-i-used-to-know-community-movie-1850097421&asc_source=&tag=kinjaavclubpromo-20) In that meantime, Brie is happy to have made her contribution to the rom-com renaissance. “I say this with a hint of [sighs] I don’t trust it! I’m not a skeptic, I do believe that the Community movie will get made. Club on Wednesday, before dubbing the film a “rom-com, with a heavy dose of dram.” Brie makes it clear that while a specific scene involving her cat is based on a true story, very little of the film is pulled from their real lives. What’s the plan?’ And he was kind of just bouncing around. I saw Joel and Danny last week and I was like, ‘Joooooel, where’s the script? I think of it more as an adult coming-of-age story,” Alison Brie said during a conversation with The A.V. “Once you get into them, ultimately, they are relationship dramas, and then it’s a matter of peppering how much comedy you want.” “We call it a rom-com, but that’s not totally how I would describe the movie.

This week brought further evidence of that with their very smart romantic comedy Somebody I Used to Know. I've interviewed both over the years, but today, you ...

Here, it’s about the charm of Somebody I Used to Know, as well as the specificity they added to it, from the posters in a bedroom on down. If you have Prime Video, Somebody I Used to Know is out today and well worth enjoying, as it’s a high quality rom-com. Dave Franco makes this his second outing as a filmmaker, directing while this time co-writing with Brie.

The real-life couple and creative partners speak to VF about reimagining My Best Friend's Wedding and how GLOW's cancellation inspired a crucial plot point.

This is something I want to do and I have to be true to myself.” We were like, oh, we have these two weeks and then I’m going to go back into production on the show. Feeling really grateful, we just wanted to create something that was hopeful and put that back out into the world.” That’s one of the benefits of also being actors who are trying to write. Says Franco, who also cast Brie in his 2020 horror directorial debut The Rental, “Going through this together has brought out our most honest selves, because we just trust and can lean on each other through everything. The couple’s warm if chaotic greeting would have fit right into Somebody I Used to Know, an evolved, somewhat raunchy refresh of the rom-com that debuts on Prime Video today.