The comedy formula is starting to get a bit exhausting and so many films are unable to set themselves apart by going against this grain. Michael Showalter's The Lovebirds is one of these unfortunate films that fails to distinguish itself as anything memorable. This movie is an amusing but forgettable mystery-comedy that features some incredible chemistry from its two leads and the occasional writing that made me laugh but is directed at an almost insufferable pace. This film has everything that a studio comedy from Paramount would release and while I'm sure it would have done fine in theaters, the decision to drop this on Netflix was their smartest move. However, if you desperately want a better comedy that's also about a couple having problems and rediscovering love after a night of coincidental crime, cults, and hostage scenes involving Third Eye Blind's "Semi-Charmed Life", may I suggest Game Night.
Leilani (Issa Rae) and Jibran (Kumail Nanjiani) have been together for four years and one night, while their relationship is on a downward spiral, they accidentally hit a man riding a bicycle and get caught up in a deeper scheme than they could have imagined. In order to clear their names, they decide to attempt to solve the murder before the cops can catch up to them. This type of story has some very predictable plot beats that could really have been written by anyone: the script from Brendan Gall and Aaron Abrams is quite humorous but never tries to reach any new heights but that is not necessarily a bad thing. I do not feel like anything groundbreaking was trying to be achieved because the story is still nonetheless watchable and definitely a good fit for a couple looking to share a fun night in. A good bit of the humor was very well-done too and I definitely laughed more than I was expecting. The line deliveries in particular from Rae and Nanjiani were fantastic and they prove to have some excellent chemistry together. I do wish that they had a more fitting script to work with but they embodied these characters like no one else. Rae and Nanjiani are able to play off each other, overlapping dialogue and constantly bickering, in a way that never felt forced and I loved how believable they were as a couple. Seeing how their relationship developed all the way through to the end was great and while typical, the conclusion was satisfying. The connections between their relationship and many of the crime plot points were also written very well and although I was never totally on board with how ridiculous some of the twists and turns were, the story remained coherent. And of course, any film that features a character overly worried about rendering animations for a documentary he is making will never fail to make me chuckle.
Showalter's direction is where I found the majority of the problems with The Lovebirds. There is nothing particularly wrong with this story or its comedy, but the execution is especially important. I do not feel like Showalter ever focused on the impact of the comedy because his direction faltered far too much and jokes were left hanging for far too long. I felt as if there was a plethora of comedy written for this film that Showalter and his writers desperately wanted to include but they did not fit in with the overarching tone of the story. The grand scheme of the plot never made sense with many of the jokes and I feel like much more focused writing could have brought these loose ends together. I also kept forgetting what the A-plot of this movie even was and where Leilani and Jibran were even headed. The comedy kept rearing its head in unnecessary directions and a lot of it felt quite forced. There is a lot of comedy to be found in genuine reactions and the only issue I had with Rae and Nanjiani's performances is that they tended to cheese it up too much at times, particularly when their characters should have been terrified for their lives. The editing by Vince Filippone and Robert Nassau was also way too loose and even though this film is only 86 minutes long, an easy 20 could have been cut to make the humor much more effective. Gall and Abrams try to blend the overwhelming comedy with the crime aspect of this story but that part became too convoluted and ludicrous at times. What works so well about 2018's Game Night is that the shockingly violent scenes are contrasted incredibly well with the naturalistic reactions and humor. That film succeeds so much because of its authenticity but in The Lovebirds, the varying parts of the story seem never seem to mesh well together.
The Lovebirds, while at the most entertaining, is really nothing special to make a huge deal out of. It does have that cinematic touch to it that most Netflix original films fail to achieve, but I was never really engaged with its story. The direction from Showalter is quite painful and lots of the running gags felt out of place, but there is nothing outwardly wrong with the approach that he took to tell this comedic story. As long as one goes in with an empty head and no expectations, there is a mildly fun time to be had.
My Rating: ★★½
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