How to gussy up your completely conventional story of boy-meets-girl, boy-marries-girl, boy-gets-famous, boy-moves-on? Well, you could start by chopping up the timeline so that we start with the heartbroken ending, cut to the ecstatic beginning, slam to a curdled late-period fight, and work from there. Oh, and you could also sing the whole thing. Richard LaGravenese (Beautiful Creatures) adapted and directed Jason Robert Brown's musical play about two artistic souls who bump up against the hard fact of his triumph and her failure. Lord knows the music and lyrics are inventive and clever, but after an hour or so, they also feel relentless and meandering. Star Anna Kendrick's appeal is stretched to its limit here, and her lover Jeremy Jordan's character is hard to take in large doses. The whole enterprise feels like it slipped and fell on the journey from stage to screen. (2015) — Matthew Lickona