“The Sun Never Sweats” is a Spinal Tap song. That has nothing to do with this film … other than the title. The Sun Never Sets is not a great name for a film, for it either is always or never true depending on what you mean by “sets.” You certainly wouldn’t intuit from the title that the film is set in an Alaskan summer, would you? I dunno. Maybe you would.
Wendy (Dakota Fanning) and Jack (Jake Johnson) need some time apart from couplehood. The two have been dating for a few years and Wendy is all in on kids, while Jake -attaining fatherhood twice from a former marriage- is not.
There are three never-fails dealbreakers in all relationships: politics, religion, children. If any of those three isn’t a match, you are not a match. Period. All the rest is negotiable. When one parent wants kids and the other doesn’t, you may as well stop right there; it doesn’t matter how compatible you are otherwise.
Jack suggests Wendy go sew wild oats or whatever the non-fogy equivalent is these days. We’re not sure if he’s truly magnanimous or has a hidden agenda, but Jack is totally fine when he thinks of Wendy dating a nerd. However, when Wendy brushes the nerd aside for an old flame – this literally happens while Wendy and nerd are dating, and boy, that’s a good one for the nerd’s ego, huh?- Jack isn’t exactly happy about Wendy with her ex.
Aw, don’t worry, Jack. It’s modern dating; you’ll be having sex with somebody else inside a week.
There isn’t much to this film. And aside from slightly superior acting, this
plot feels like a sitcom. You’d only know otherwise by the settings and the dearth of laughter, canned or otherwise. I’m not sure this film has much to say besides, “Relationships are hard. Don’t be an asshole.” Is that worth the price of admission? No. BUT, I could be convinced that watching adults own the truth, own their own mistakes, take full responsibility for their own shortcomings, and still behave like adults making adult decisions without fighting or yelling, might be worth it. There are good examples here of how to behave during a break-up without humiliating yourself or necessarily creating a scene. People ought to know, imho.
On the other hand, there really isn’t a whole lot here, and pretending there is makes us both look bad. Also, the film both starts and ends with Wendy sizing up a boat, making me believe everything in the film was bullshit; Wendy is really in love with the boat. It’s going to be hard to convince me otherwise, and yet I’m certain that writer/director Joe Swanberg did not have that in mind.
There once was an S.O named Jack
Who decided his partner did lack
So he sent her away
She found her own gray
And now she wonders if she should come back
Rated R, 102 Minutes
Director: Joe Swanberg
Writer: Joe Swanberg
Genre: Full-length sitcom, less the jokes
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: People looking to justify their own poor romance decisions
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: “Is she in love with a boat?”
