Jason Orley On 'I Want You Back': 'We Did Not Have The Big, Running ...

The three-time Emmy-nominated Siddhartha Khosla (This is Us, Only Murders in the Building) has given music for the charming rom-com I Want You Back. “We talked about how to tell this timeless story in a contemporary way,” says director Jason Orley.

Speaking from the Four Seasons at Beverly Hills over a video call, Orley says, “There is this opening credit montage, for example, where you are seeing Instagram posts set to this old standard love song. The whole film is a juxtaposition of seeing modern characters living in the present, talking about dating and losing their phones. The job of the music is to remind you that these stories are timeless.” 

The music was highlighting that theme, says Orley. “I Want You Back is also an intimate story of two characters. We did not want the music to overpower them, so we just kept the piano. And then something special happened. Sid had this score that played through the movie on his piano and we thought it would be nice if we could set lyrics to this. We got Mandy Moore and her husband, Taylor Goldsmith, to listen to the score and they turned it into a song. They wrote lyrics and that is the song you hear at the end of the film, ‘Finding You Backwards’. The score evolves from this tune you have been hearing through the film into a real song. I was proud of that.” 

I WANT YOU BACK | Photo Credit: Jessica Miglio/ © 2021 Amazon C

Casting chemistry

I Want You Back tells the story of Peter (Charlie Day) and Emma (Jenny Slate) who decide the best way to get back their loves, Anne (Gina Rodriguez) and Noah (Scott Eastwood), back is by sabotaging their new relationships. Noah is seeing Ginny (Clark Backo) while Anne’s new boyfriend is Logan (Manny Jacinto).

Casting, Orley says, was trickier than expected. “These couples have to make sense together. You have to believe in the main couple, and also in the others. You cannot just cast individual actors, you have to cast the entire group and hope that everyone has great chemistry together. A film like this hinges on the chemistry between the characters.”

Charlie Day, Orley says was already attached to the film. “That was a big reason why I wanted to do this film, I am a huge fan of his. Jenny Slate was someone I had always wanted to work with.” 

Comfort watch 

A great fan of rom-coms for the comfort factor, Orley says when he read the script of I Want You Back, he was reminded of the great old rom-coms. “I had not read or seen any good ones in the last few years that jumped out at me. All the films I was watching in the genre were 10 or more years old. After I read this script, I met the writers and the producer and begged to be able to make this film. I gave them my pitch and luckily, they agreed.” 

There are certain things you expect from a rom-com, Orley says. “There are these tropes or beats, like the breakups, and the weddings, that you expect. Romantic comedies also give you the chance to live with these characters who have great chemistry. There is a fine line between comedy and tragedy. Seeing characters go through break-ups whether in Annie Hall or When Harry Met Sally or You’ve Got Mail, is relatable. To be able to take a story that you have seen before and put your own spin on it is fun.” 

Pros and cons 

I WANT YOU BACK | Photo Credit: Jessica Miglio/ © 2021 Amazon C

The cons of a romantic comedy Orley says are the same as the pros. “People have expectations, they want the two people to get together. And then people would say, ‘Well, I knew they were going to get together’ but if they do not get together, they are upset. Romantic comedies also get a bad rap that they are not about real emotions. I disagree. We always try to tell the dramatic story first, and then add humour to it. 

When Harry Met Sally is a rom-com Orley returns to all the time. “I love Notting Hill and You’ve Got Mail and all Nancy Meyers films from Something’s Gotta Give to It’s Complicated. 

A wedding in a rom-com, Orley says, is a great way to have all the characters together celebrating what everyone can relate to. “There is so much drama at a wedding. In I Want You Back, to have all the characters forced together on a boat, where they are trapped on the water was exciting. While a wedding is a regular in the rom-com, I Want You Back does not have that other rom-com staple — the kiss. “We did not have the big, running kiss, which I do love sometimes but I thought that we didn’t need it for this film.” 

Dating in the digital world

Social media and romance are prickly bed fellows. “ Social media has made it easier to see your exes and made breaking up harder. It was important not to tell a story about social media, rather just to tell a story about relationships and show how social media has become a natural part of our everyday life. In When Harry Met Sally, there is this great moment when Carrie Fisher pulls out her Rolodex and start scrolling through it. It is funny because you would never do that now, that is not a thing anymore.” 

Orley says he hopes people will look at I Want You Back and how social media was used in dating. “The film, however, is not about that. We are showing what the world is like without making the movie about social media.” 

I Want You Back is currently streaming on Amazon Prime Video