The trailer for writer-director Ami Canaan Mann’s “Jackie & Ryan” begins with the two titular characters locking eyes for the first time. Ryan (Ben Barnes) is busking, and Jackie (Katherine Heigl) is very much into the music he’s playing. It’s not long before she’s very much into him too.
As Jackie leaves Ryan’s gig, she is struck by a truck. While she’s not seriously harmed, Ryan insists on driving her home. She repays his kindness with supper, but it’s clear that the offer is more than a polite gesture: Jackie wants to learn more about him. “He’s cute,” her mom (Sheryl Lee, “Twin Peaks) declares, only to quickly add, “But who the hell lives like that anymore? It’s not the ‘60s.”
You can see where this is going, but it’s the journey of falling in love and connecting through music that drives this romance. Meanwhile, Jackie, who’s in the midst of a very messy divorce, is threatened by her ex with a suit for full custody for their daughter. It’s not just young people who fall in love, so it’s nice to see grown-ups with grown-up problems kindling new romances, too.
Heigl and Barnes previously acted together in 2013’s “The Big Wedding.” Clea Duvall costars.
“Jackie & Ryan” comes to theaters July 3.
https://content.jwplatform.com/videos/GRhrtFy4-720.mp4
