From the get-go, When We First Met is a cliched and flawed movie, full of the most obvious caricatures and mindless drivel. Loser Boy gets friend-zoned by Hot Girl, and uses time travel to try and cheat his way into her heart, until he finally learns his lesson.
It's a comedy, not sci-fi, so it's understandable that aspects of time travel are glossed over, and the "consequences" are only to progress the plot. But that actually detracts from the story, for me, because any other device could have been used: dreams, visions, possessed car, etc. The silly photo booth was not a fun use of storytelling.
Adam Devine is not a good actor, nor a good comedian. There are few movies where I've enjoyed him, and this was definitely not one of them. He was annoying, and his delivery was lame, and I couldn't stand him. I hated his character, and can't help but see him as the character itself. An absolute loser who didn't deserve love, but rather than work on himself and find a partnership with someone who liked him for himself, he has to cheat to get a girl.
The story eventually gets around to Noah learning that you can't force someone to love you, and delivers it with an on-the-nose speech from his best friend. It's trite, and horrible, and then there's this sudden bond with Hot Girl's best friend that was barely ever there. Which means it seems like it comes out of nowhere, but Noah is still so unlikable that you don't want him to find happiness.
Not only is the movie barely watchable (others have done better), but it continues to perpetuate the theme of the loser getting the hottie. If Adam Devine weren't so annoying, maybe I could have felt like Noah was just an overlooked young man who needed to learn a few life lessons about accepting himself as a person...but there was something deeper than that which really stuck in my craw.
Like some kind of hidden message to program men to believe they deserve a hot woman even if they're a schlub, and that it's all right to attempt to manipulate her. The whole thing was based on superficiality, though the writers attempted to put in a "connection".
Don't waste your time. Watch anything else.
