I reviewed "The Last Five Years"

Cool

I appreciated your thoughts on the film, though I wish there were more specifics. I would have liked to know which song sounded to you like they made it up on the spot (though the stage musical premiered in the 90s) and which moments in particular felt like the mood shifted too drastically. I would have liked to know how you felt the film handled the story, what you felt for the characters, if any of the songs stood out to you as particularly good and for what reasons.

One thing I'll add, as far as the mood shift goes: her story is being told backwards while his is being told forwards, which may account for the feeling of the mood shifting. When she is at the end of the relationship, struggling and hurting, he's at the beginning, happy and blissful. Then as she moves backwards to a time when she was happier, we watch him face the struggles the two go through later in the relationship. This is why the only times they sing together are when the two stories converge at their wedding in the middle, and in the last song when she's saying goodbye after their first date and he's saying goodbye forever.

Hope that clarifies and I'm glad you enjoyed the movie. I liked it a lot, too!