The latest hit movie for Amazon Prime is I Want You Back, a romantic comedy with a fun cast of lovable actors. As is often the case with films in this genre, a major selling point is that the audience has to like the characters and get invested in whatever their romantic storyline is.
Thankfully, I Want You Back features plenty of characters who come across as likable and they're brought to life by talented actors who have been beloved throughout their careers. From fun supporting characters to those at the heart of the story, this film has plenty of endearing parts.
In some ways, the audience is meant to be against Logan (Manny Jacinto) as soon as he appears. Although they want Peter to get over his relationship with Anne, there's just something off-putting about Logan and the way he acts like the school play he's putting on is some genius piece of art that everyone should appreciate.
His desire to be open and experiment sexually with Anne isn't bad but it's clear that Anne actually isn't interested and it feels like he's somewhat forcing her into the situation through manipulative words. Although everyone is rightfully upset when the truth came out at Noah's wedding, Logan lashed out the most, stormed off, and called Emma a name.
Leighton (Isabel May) doesn't appear all that much in the movie. She's only in a handful of scenes as a girl that Peter bonds with at a club. She and her friends agree to take Peter and Noah back to their place for private time together.
That's fine on the surface and it was pretty freeing to see Peter let loose. However, her unlikable nature comes from the way she lied to Peter. She was only 17-years-old and lied multiple times about her age, job, and whose house it was. That was manipulative and uncool.
The only character included who has less screen time than Leighton is Jase (Pete Davidson). He's actually Leighton's ex-boyfriend who comes over while Peter and Noah are visiting and he hangs out with the guys.
There's really no reason to dislike Jase as he comes across as a pretty casual dude who just wants to have a good time. Alas, he's still hung up on Leighton and bothers her about it while she's busy paying attention to Peter. He also could've saved a lot of grief if he let Peter know that Leighton and her friends were underage.
Early on in the film, Emma mentioned that she lived with two college students. They don't get seen until a bit later but they're the very much in love couple of Lisa (Dylan Gelula) and Paul (Mason Gooding). For the most part, they aren't crucial to the film's overall story.
That being said, what audiences saw of them made them pretty likable. Even though Emma was clearly intruding on their space, they never lashed out at her or made her feel bad for it. Their adoration for each other was a welcome sight in a movie filled with failed romances.
As the ex-girlfriend of the protagonist, it's hard to totally get behind Anne (Gina Rodriguez). At first, you can actually understand her because feeling like you're stuck in a rut with your partner can be difficult. It was questionable that she said that to Peter and then immediately got into a relationship with someone who also wasn't offering more.
Anne is a territorial woman who was clearly not happy taking things to a new sexual level with Logan. It made her run back to Peter but the issue was that she hadn't changed. She still didn't seem to truly believe in him and was only using him to get back into something she was comfortable with.
Unlike Logan, Ginny (Clark Backo) instantly made a positive impression on the audience when she first appeared. That happened when Noah and Peter visited her cake shop and her love for Noah was evident. She also managed to connect with Peter with ease.
Ginny ended up being so likable that Peter couldn't succeed in his attempt to break her and Noah up. Their exploits led Noah to realize how in love with Ginny he was and it was easy to understand. As far as viewers saw, Ginny was a sweetheart.
Almost immediately, Noah (Scott Eastwood) showed that he was someone the audience could appreciate. Although he was breaking up with the protagonist, he did so in a reasonable way and even did what he could to make sure that she kept taking care of herself after the split.
Peter was able to forge a friendship with Noah so easily because he's a likable guy. He and Emma didn't have much in common and weren't a good fit romantically. Noah was even forgiving of Emma after he learned the truth about everything and just wanted her to be happy, though away from him and Ginny, which was understandable.
From out of nowhere, Trevor (Luke David Blumm) managed to steal the show among the supporting characters. This young kid was part of the school play that Logan was running and he ended up bonding with Emma in unexpected ways.
At first, he just came off as a kid with an attitude problem but he had some fun banter with Emma. He then became sympathetic when she gave him a ride home and he opened up about his troubled home life. She helped him through a tough time and it was endearing, as was hearing him run off saying she was his new girlfriend when she gave him her phone number.
The entire plot of having Peter (Charlie Day) befriend Noah made sense because Peter was a flat-out likable person. He is someone who was easy to talk to, relatable, and he proved that he cared about those who were close to him. That was the case whether it was Anne, Emma, Noah, or anyone else in his circle.
Peter was even shown to go out of his way to get a gift for Emma that could help her realize her dreams and he took the time to help an elderly woman to her seat. Plus, Peter's dream of opening a nursing home that actually takes care of people is just as sweet as Emma said it was.
Emma (Jenny Slate) was a lot of things including being aimless and a little obsessive over Noah but above all else, she was likable. The plan put together by her and Peter was certainly not a good one but they come to realize it, apologize, and learn from their mistakes.
It's Emma who sees the beauty in Peter's aspirations and believes in him in a way that nobody else does. She's also heartfelt in the connection she forms with Trevor, helping him out immensely. On top of that, even when she was trying to sabotage Anne and Logan, she could tell that Anne was uncomfortable and tried to give her an out.
