It’s Complicated

To cut to the chase: I liked The Sun Never Sets. I didn’t love it, and I’m not sure I’ll be thinking about it much a week from now. But for most of its running time, I was perfectly happy watching it.

That’s not exactly a ringing endorsement, I know. But sometimes “likable enough” has to be a perfectly legitimate review.

Directed by Joe Swanberg, The Sun Never Sets centers on Wendy (Dakota Fanning), a 31-year-old woman in Anchorage, Alaska, who is two years into a relationship with Jack (Jake Johnson), an older, divorced man with two kids. Jack has made it clear he doesn’t want to get married again or have more children. He also doesn’t share many of Wendy’s interests, leaving her to do many of her favorite hobbies without him. Apparently, Wendy is okay with all of that.

An announcement by Wendy’s closest friend that she’s pregnant makes Wendy start to question her relationship with Jack. She loves him, and he loves her, but is he really the right man for her? So, Jack makes what he thinks is a great suggestion: They should take a break, and Wendy should use their time apart to date other men so she can decide if Jack is who she really wants to be with, and so she doesn’t realize years later that she’s made a mistake. Reluctantly, Wendy agrees.

And then, wouldn’t you know it, Wendy sees her ex, Chuck (Cory Michael Smith, who played Chevy Chase in Saturday Night), and it’s clear right away the spark is still there. Jack instantly realizes he’s made a huge mistake (duh), and Wendy finds herself caught between the two men. Poor Wendy.

It’s a compelling, albeit familiar, premise, and Swanberg made the film the way he’s made movies for years: he establishes the story, gives his actors an outline, then lets them improvise much of the dialogue. (Drinking Buddies, which also starred Johnson and was one of my favorite movies of 2013, is a great example of this.) The Sun Never Sets follows the formula, and it generally works well here. The conversations have a loose, natural quality that makes the characters sound like real people rather than actors delivering lines.

It also helps that Fanning, Johnson, and Smith are all good. They have the sort of believable chemistry that makes you willing to follow them even when the story starts spinning its wheels. 

Eventually, that’s exactly what happens.

The movie begins to feel repetitive, and it goes on a little too long. At some point, I just wanted Wendy to pull a Kelly Taylor and tell her two suitors, “I choose me,” and for the film to be over. Alas.

Still, I’d much rather watch a likeable enough movie that’s slightly too long than one that leaves me wishing I hadn’t watched it at all. The Sun Never Sets is an agreeable, well-acted, engaging movie with enough emotional messiness to keep things interesting. 

Also in the plus column: Chuck is a pilot, which gives Swanberg multiple opportunities to show off the Alaskan landscape. And Johnson’s New Girl co-star Lamorne Morris briefly appears via Zoom as Jack’s friend and sounding board. (The official credits literally list him as “Jack’s Friend.” Ha!)

So, yeah, The Sun Never Sets is a fine movie. Nothing great. Nothing I regret seeing. And sometimes that’s enough.

I’m giving it a B.