Summaries

Synopsis

Cathy Hiatt (Anna Kendrick) is sitting alone lamenting the end of her marriage ("Still Hurting").

Five years earlier. Jamie Wellerstein (Jeremy Jordan) is an up-and-coming Jewish writer who has just met Cathy. He is overjoyed to be dating outside his Jewish heritage ("Shiksa Goddess").

Cathy and Jamie are in Ohio. It is her birthday and he has come to visit her as she works in community theater there. She is anxious to fix any problems in their marriage but she becomes angry when Jamie tells her he has to go back early to New York. She thinks that he is too fixated on his work and doesn't care about spending time with her enough. ("See I'm Smiling").

Jamie is moving in with Cathy. He comments on how lucky he is that everything is going right for him; his book is being published and his life with Cathy seems too good to be true ("Moving Too Fast"). Elsewhere, an older Cathy is making a call to her agent: it seems her career isn't going the way she planned it.

Cathy is attending multiple social functions for Jamie's success. She sings about how he ignores her for his writing but she will always be in love with him ("A Part of That").

Jamie and Cathy celebrate their first Christmas. He tells her a new story he has written about an old tailor named Schmuel and he gives her a Christmas present: a watch, promising to support her as she follows her dreams of acting ("The Schmuel Song").

Cathy is in Ohio and Skyping to Jamie. She describes to Jamie her disappointing life in Ohio among her eccentric colleagues ("A Summer in Ohio").

Jamie is sitting with Cathy in Central Park underneath a gazebo. Jamie proposes to her and, for the first time in the film, they sing together ("The Next Ten Minutes"). They get married, exchanging vows to stay together forever.

Jamie is facing temptation from other women, especially now his career as a writer has escalated ("A Miracle Would Happen"). Cathy, meanwhile, is auditioning for the job in New York ("When You Come Home to Me"). She is getting down about the rejection she faces as an actress and complains to Jamie. She realizes she doesn't want to be the girl left behind ("Climbing Uphill").

Jamie is fighting with Cathy, trying to get her to listen to him. He wants to celebrate a book review but Cathy refuses to go out. He accuses her of being unsupportive of his career just because hers is failing. Though his words are harsh, he promises her that he believes in her ("If I Didn't Believe in You").

A younger Cathy is in the car with Jamie, who is going to meet her parents. She tells him about her past relationships and hopes not to end up in a small town life like her friend from high school ("I Can Do Better Than That"). She asks Jamie to move in with her.

Near the end of the relationship, Jamie wakes up beside multiple women, including the book editor, Elise ("Nobody Needs to Know"). He tries to defend his actions and blames Cathy for destroying his privacy and their relationship. Jamie promises not to lie to Elise and tells her, that "I could be in love with someone like you," just as he did to Cathy.

Cathy is ecstatic after her first date with Jamie. She sings goodbye ("Goodbye Until Tomorrow"). She proclaims that she has been waiting for Jamie her whole life. Simultaneously but five years forward, Jamie sits in their shared apartment writing laments over the relationship ("I Could Never Rescue You").

As Cathy waves Jamie "goodbye until tomorrow", Jamie wishes Cathy simply "goodbye". He leaves the apartment, and later that evening, Cathy returns to the apartment, leading to the beginning of the film.