Writer/director Joe Swanberg’s “The Sun Never Sets” centers around a trio of old friends living in Alaska who have a habit of falling for one another, breaking up, then immediately regretting it.
We meet Wendy, played by Dakota Fanning, who has been in a two-year relationship with Jack (Jake Johnson). He’s a single dad who wants her to be happy and maybe see other people. Wendy takes Jack’s advice and reconnects with her hunky ex, Chuck (Cory Michael Smith).
She struggles to settle into a new relationship, while frustrating Jack, who was normally the one to string her along.
The joy of watching “The Sun Never Sets” is in the performances, but even that fades by the second act. I liked the work of the actors so much more than the characters they were playing.
I’m happy to report that this avoids being a cute, twinkly romantic comedy with an inevitable conclusion. However, it’s the other kind of annoyance, an aimless romantic drama where the three main characters can’t decide how they feel about one another, can’t keep their hands off one another in moments of passion, then yell at one another afterwards for not knowing better.
Fanning is wonderful here, never forcing the emotions of the character and giving an entirely natural, always believable performance; watch her when she’s on a date with a sweet but clueless guy who wants to talk about video games, as we can see Wendy being as nice as possible but with one foot out the door.
Johnson’s role is arguably the film’s most insufferable (though he has strong competition) and he manages to make Jack enduring and real, even as the character often behaves like a villain. Smith, who was terrific playing Chevy Chase in “Saturday Night” (2024), does well playing a guy who can’t believe his luck when he reignites his former relationship with Wendy, until the regrets start piling up.
Swanberg is a noted “mumblecore” filmmaker who wrote and directed the not-bad “Drinking Buddies” (2013). He also dabbles in horror, as he wrote the memorably unsettling “The Rental” (2020) and directed a segment of the original “V/H/S” (2012).
He has talent and leans into honest character revelations more than the demands of Screenwriting 101, but Swanberg also overestimates the appeal of his characters, let alone a repetitive story that goes in a circle of are-we-still-seeing-each-other-or-not?
View this post on Instagram
Someone asked me recently about the state of comedies and why movies in that genre aren’t that funny anymore. On the one hand, “Coyote Vs. Acme” is hysterical, which is cause for rejoicing but considering that the last broad summer comedy in memory was last year’s rehash of “The Naked Gun” (2025), the question is valid.
My response is that I recall 20 years ago, walking out of “The Break-Up” (2006), a supposed farce that was simply just Jennifer Aniston and Vince Vaughn yelling at one another for nearly two hours. It’s fine that the movie was bitter (Danny DeVito’s 1989 “The War of the Roses” is, after all, one of my favorite movies) but the bigger issue is that “The Break Up” wasn’t funny.
Everyone from Woody Allen to Nora Ephron to Albert Brooks, to name a few, have shown us that bittersweet love stories, or even anti-rom-coms, can be hilarious. That’s not the case with “The Sun Never Sets,” though the emphasis isn’t even on comedy but on character.
If the film developed genuine rooting interest in his characters and not simply set them up for yet another public outbreak, he might have really had something.
The three leads are in great form here, but the soap opera story is barely enough for me to remember “The Sun Never Sets” the next day, let alone recommend it.
Two Stars (out of four)