Charlie Harper Review: Nick Robinson and Emilia Jones Star in a Sinking Romance Charlie Harper review: Nick Robinson and Emilia Jones star in a non-linear romance that fails to convince, releasing in theaters on September 25. Charlie Harper, a new film starring Nick Robinson and Emilia Jones, opens in theaters on Friday, September 25. Directed by Charlie Harper, Mac Eldridge and Tom Dean, the movie follows a couple trying to understand what their love meant after their relationship burned bright, soured, and dissolved without the feeling ever really having gone away. The non-linear story visits different times in their relationship out of order, but the film struggles to make the central romance compelling. The Non-Linear Romance of Charlie HarperAs we gradually see over the course of the non-linear story, Charlie (Nick Robinson) and Harper (Emilia Jones) cross paths a few different times in their young lives. They meet in high school, when Charlie, a year older, TAs one of Harper's classes, but things don't start in earnest for them until after Harper's graduation.A romantic night out turns into a passionate summer. When Charlie follows Harper to New Orleans, that summer turns into building a life together. And, well after their years-long relationship has run its course, a run-in turns into a maybe-one-night-stand that resurfaces some complicated feelings.It's obvious from the beginning that these two people shouldn't be together, and without a real investment in their love story, the movie is mostly waiting to see how much punishment they can take before they catch on. The particular joy of a doomed romance is the inner conflict of knowing these two people aren't good for each other, but wanting to see them together anyway. I can't imagine wanting these two to work things out.Script and Structure Fail to ConvinceThere are, unfortunately, two things that proved insurmountable in my effort to enjoy it. The first is the script, which so baldly aspires to profundity. A fractured structure in which times in the central relationship are visited out of order is paired with both characters describing their relationship in retrospect to someone else, and the combination of the way we're shown these events and the way they talk about them makes the whole thing pretty insufferable.These are two people plagued with main character syndrome in a movie perfectly content to indulge them. The second, perhaps a natural result of the first, is that I didn't ever buy into these two as a couple. Charlie Harper is a much more interesting movie whenever the protagonists are off on their own – which, given the conceit, isn't very often. The rest is a slog to sit through.Robinson and Jones are good performers, but they are ill-suited to the dour tone of this material, which requires them to spend most of their time living in or reflecting on their growing misery. These roles drain them of the charisma they've displayed in other projects, even just this year. The dialogue some scenes require them to deliver sounds completely false coming out of their mouths.Character Struggles in New OrleansCrucially, their happy time together being uncompelling leaves the film completely imbalanced, as the issues in Harper and Charlie's relationship are glaring. Though neither has chosen to go to college after high school, Harper dreams of being a chef, and learns the hard way what it means to be a devoted professional as she tries to break into the New Orleans restaurant scene.Charlie, a clearly intelligent auto-didact, has some unresolved issues that manifest as a conscious lack of drive and an overreliance on alcohol. When Harper is taking her lumps from her professional kitchen's driven chef (Jonathan Gregg), or Charlie is being seen right through by his empathetic boss (Gralen Bryant Banks), they show signs of life as characters.They are able to breathe outside the confines of their shared history together. A more contained movie that focused on that, and their gradual realization of what it meant, may have communicated the themes more effectively. As it stands, these moments are not nearly enough to rescue the viewing experience.That Charlie Harper ends pretty much exactly as you'd expect is only the final nail in an already sealed coffin. Charlie Harper releases in theaters on Friday, September 25.