With ‘From Scratch,’ Netflix cooks up its version of a Lifetime weepie, “The Lovers.” Based on the novel by Anne Rice, it tells the story of a young couple, Jack and Kate (Josh Charles), who meet in Manhattan when Jack, played by Josh Charles, is a struggling actor. When he starts receiving threatening letters, Kate, played by Anne Hathaway, comes to his rescue. Despite the threats, Jack and Kate begin an intimate and loving relationship.
It’s a beautiful and emotional story about falling in love, surviving the trauma of abuse and finding trust. But the story isn’t that pretty or that easy to swallow. It’s a complicated love story but not a love story in the traditional sense. Because of that, it’s a true tearjerker.
The story begins on an ordinary Monday morning and the camera pulls back to reveal that the couple in question, Jack and Kate, have known each other for over a year in their apartment. The two are happily in love, and the film is an exploration of the pain and the hope that comes with that love. The film opens with a montage of their first meeting, and is also a meditation on the love versus the fear involved with falling in love and how that love can either move you forward or throw you back.
What’s more, the film is beautifully cinematically animated, particularly for a drama, and there are some touching moments in the film as we learn that love can change you beyond your wildest dreams, change the way you love and love the life you have. But the film never loses its focus on Jack and Kate’s relationship with each other, and despite the fact that Jack tries to be strong and Kate tries so hard to support him, the two never realize the real feelings that they have for each other. There’s so much to love about the film, but it’s also tragic that the two never develop a real relationship.
The cinematography and