I Used to Go Here; Grade: B
I Used to Go Here tells a story about a writer named Kate (Gillian Jacobs) who just released her published novel. What was suppose to be an exciting experience, consisting of a book tour... Things change within a blink of an eye. Due to the low number of sales within Kate’s book, the publishing company decides to cancel the book tour. Though Kate heavily disappointed gets a call from her past professor David (Jemaine Clement), whom wants to hold a reading for Kate’s new novel at her past college she went to years ago. Witness Kate go through a series of regret, having an adventure, while also reminiscing to the grand times Kate once had in college.
The Cinematography was solid in this film, kind of liked how many of the shots were extremely colorful and bright. There were some interesting wide shots including the opening shot and the shots of the river. I also enjoyed the river shots when they were up close, as it brought out significant detail to them, as they were clear as day. The Score when presented can sound nice, however doesn’t make much of an impact on this story. The cast all in all I say were solid as a whole, which is rarely say in comedies. Gillian Jacobs playing Kate played a solid performance. I really enjoyed the character Kate, thought she was very well written, as she felt like a real human being. Going through the motions of success, going through the motions of regret, going through the motions of feeling unfulfilled as she lost her identity as a writer and person... Was all done very well. There’s a few supporting performances I liked in this film, including Jemaine Clement, Josh Wiggins, Brandon Daley, and especially Jorma Taccone! Jorma Taccone arguably provides the best laugh out of this entire film from a comedy standpoint, his scenes in a bar were HILARIOUS!
A couple flaws I have with I Used to Go Here. One being Kate mishandling a key to her bed and breakfast. First off I don’t really understand how she could lose her key, considering we did see her clearly putting it away in her bag, if it fell off her bag she would certainly hear it falling out. Secondly: I thought she hand it off to that particular gentleman, that works for the college, so why doesn’t Kate clarify with him that he might have the key?! Apparently it’s forgotten, as the pay off us the one holding the bed and breakfast is rude to Kate for humor purposes, which honestly didn’t work in my opinion. Another flaw worth mentioning has to deal with the particular gentleman helping out Kate. Kate and those college kids that live in Kate’s old dorm house, plan to spy on David due to personal reasons won’t spoil it. The gentleman kindly gives Kate and the gang a ride, but has told them he took a drug that is suppose to knock him out earlier. How come Kate or nobody in the car offers to take the wheel?! God Forbid if he falls asleep on the wheel, that could cause a car accident.
The film brought my interest solely on the fact Gillian Jacobs is in it. I’ve enjoyed her work ever since partaking in the Netflix Original Show Love, which was pretty damn good, a few of my friends enjoy it too. I must say: I Used to Go Here was enjoyable to watch.
The story itself was simple yet odd, weird, and just something I did not expect witnessing. Kate’s handling the disappointment of her novel, kind of justifies why she keeps hanging around with these college kids, that now live in her old dorm. The college lifestyle in which Kate used to attend, brought the bright writer the ability to be free in creating whatever stories she wanted to write. In the real world sometimes you have to please publishers, in order to achieve the goal in hand as to become a published author. But soon Kate will find out just because you achieved having your book published, doesn’t necessarily mean it will be successful. Critics and readers will discover if the book at hand is not only worth reading, but can spot out if it genuinely has a voice.
What brought Kate success in being a writer in college, was the fact she was bold and not afraid to write what she wanted to write, as her acclaimed well written essay was about her dead brother. That’s because Kate was given a great amount of freedom to write whatever she wanted to write about, when a writer is given the freedom to be unapologetic, to express their deer feelings whether it be an essay or story, they can certainly create something that is not only great but could potentially be special. Clearly Kate lost her moral purpose as a writer, as she now tends to please others just so she can receive the mere achievement of being published. Being published doesn’t always guarantee what you have written is good, especially when the writer themselves did not genuinely wrote by the sole reason they wanted to write it.
Kate’s trip down memory lane serves the moral lesson in this film: Embrace your true-self. As a writer you shouldn’t feel obligated in pleasing others, as that will only result in becoming a failure, as your story will not hold much of value because it was genuinely what the writer wanted to write in the first place. Writers tend to become great due to the fact they genuinely write, what they want to write. Writers succeed by feeling free to create whatever they want to create, to be bold and unapologetic, to not fear of “What If’s” from others. Writers have to embrace the fact that there could be a possibly, in what they wrote may not be liked by others or not be published, as that’s perfectly fine. What matters as a writer is whatever you wrote, you were happy within the fact what you wrote, was genuinely what you wanted to write in the first place. Be bold, be creative, be unapologetic, and be proud of whatever you do in life whether it be writing or whatever, and not give a flying damn about what others think or titles that don’t really hold much value.
While the moral lesson of this film holds a fair amount of value towards writers especially, I did enjoy the comedy material in this film. There’s honestly quite a few nice laugh out moments, that I didn’t expect receiving from this film. I appreciate the fact the sense of humor wanted to be something different compared to modern day comedies, as it tried going outside of the box. Some of the jokes were unexpected, but they worked out so well because they were genuinely good jokes, I want more people working in the comedy field to be unapologetic and bold because that’s what comedy is all about, nice stuff! I enjoyed the simple journey down memory lane this film has to offer, as it really can shine a light to dreamers and especially writers themselves.
Overall, I Used To Go Here is a solid film. I recommend checking this one out, especially if you’re a writer, this film will certainly inspire you. Well back to the ole grind tomorrow, been five months since I last worked my day job as I look forward to returning to it! Thank you all so much for all the support you’ve given me during this entire lay off, truly appreciate all the love and support, as reviews will certainly continue at a high volume as always! -Mitch Smietana