PremiumThe Greatest Hits review - Lucy Boynton's musical time-travel tale fails to strike the right chord
The Greatest Hits adds a musical spin to the concept of time travel. Helmed by Ned Benson and starring Lucy Boynton, the romantic fantasy movie has dropped on Disney+ Hotstar. Read the review here
Last Updated: 04.59 PM, Apr 13, 2024
The Greatest Hits story
Harriet (Lucy Boynton) lost her boyfriend in an accident. But certain songs transport her back in time (literally!) and she finds herself reliving moments with him. Suffering from guilt, Harriet is hoping to find that one record that she believes will help change the past and prevent the accident from happening.
The Greatest Hits review
Music has the power to transport us back in time – yes, we totally agree! Adding a musical spin to the intriguing concept of time travel, The Greatest Hits takes a giant leap of faith and expects viewers to follow suit. But alas, the movie, helmed by Ned Benson, takes a tad too simplistic approach to executing it and hence, falls short of the mark.
The Greatest Hits, which recently dropped on Disney+ Hotstar, finds Harriet in a lonely, isolated space that is cluttered with the memories of her boyfriend Max. From his dog to his chair and old records, she is surrounded by things that constantly remind her of him. The songs she first heard with her boyfriend send her spinning back into the past and she is desperately looking for that one vinyl record, which she believes will help change the past.
In previous movies on time travel such as Back to the Future from the 80s era or The Butterfly Effect from the 2000s, the unpredictability of the plot was a huge factor that worked in favour of the films. But here, as Harriet keeps revisiting her past over and over again, it feels like the same sequence is being played on a loop, offering nothing new.
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Director Ned Benson, who is also the writer of the movie, doesn’t present anything substantial for the viewers to indulge in but for the introduction of a fascinating idea. After that, we are served with stock characters such as David (played by Justin H Min), whom she meets at the group therapy centre or her bestie Morris (played by Austin Crute), who is not able to understand why she is not able to let go of her past.
Not just Harriet, the makers should have also taken notes here because we never get to see the significance of Max in her life. The movie never delves into their relationship, which appears to be a normal romantic bond and nothing from her past tells us why Max was so important to her that she is left wallowing in grief even two years after his death. She is even forced to wear a headset all the time to cut out the chance of randomly being sent into the past.
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Lucy Boynton gives an earnest performance as the grief-stricken Harriet, and she is well supported by Justin H Min who plays her new love interest David. But they needed more material to convey the really strong emotions their characters are dealing with. David Corenswet as Max and Austin Crute also deliver what is expected of their roles.
There aren’t many characters in this movie and with a duration of 1 hour and 34 minutes, it is not difficult to sit through this romantic fantasy film which is rather simplistic despite the intriguing concept.
The Greatest Hits verdict
Laden with heavy themes of grief and guilt, the romantic fantasy movie needed much more strong writing to take us along with Harriet as she journeys to the past. The Greatest Hits is not a bad movie, but not an engaging one either.