The Lovebirds

Have you ever seen a trailer and just gone, "meh"? 

That's been me every time I saw The Lovebirds trailer in theaters before we stopped being able to go to them. 

I really like Kumail Nanjiani (Silicon Valley fan over here) and I'm glad he's getting larger roles, but in the trailer I just couldn't even force myself to laugh. And then you end up seeing it several times and it becomes almost a chore...so on and so forth. 

So yeah, I wasn't really all that excited for The Lovebirds. Fast forward to a worldwide pandemic and Netflix picking this up to stream it and my excitement went from probably-would-have-skipped to well-there's-nothing-better-on. 

Even still, my girlfriend and I had a pleasant time with it and any time you waste A) during a pandemic and B) while watching it for free on Netflix is a lot easier pill to swallow versus going to the theater, getting your tickets, watching 30 minutes of trailers, watching the movie, driving home, etc. My point being, The Lovebirds moving to a Netflix release was a smart one because I'm not sure this film would have done all that well at the box office and watching it in my own home probably gives me a more positive opinion than I would have had going through the song-and-dance (that I miss right now) of going to the theater. 

My biggest problem with The Lovebirds is that it just feels unambitious from the start. Not every movie needs to set out to change your life, I get it, but from the name, to the premise, to the writing, to the plot...it all feels like we've done this before. Other than the diverse casting in the lead roles, this feels like a rom-com you've probably watched several times on TV while you're cooking, doing laundry, etc. In any normal year, it would be an entirely forgettable film - and I'm still sure it will age that way - but in the time of COVID, it's exciting because it's a "new" film that was actually supposed to hit theaters. Those points don't necessarily mean it's a bad movie - I'd say it sits firmly in the above average/"good" realm, but I do always find it hard to write a review about a film that I was "meh" going in and "meh" coming out. 

Also my quarantine look of choice

^^ Kind of the equivalent to me
and the gf while watching this

One pleasant surprise was that the film was funnier than I expected. It's not a comedy you'll be rewatching over and over to memorize one-liners, but the 0-laughs trailer is a pretty bad sell for the movie's humor. The actual R-rate film can deliver a consistent series of smiles, laughs, and chuckles. I never found the quality or quantity of these to be that substantial, and part of me wonders if the fact I haven't seen a new film in a while + a couple glasses of wine helped, but it's definitely not a film where the jokes completely crap out. I'd attribute this much more to our two leads than the writing too...Issa Rae and Kumail Nanjiani are fun together and they both have some talented comedic chops. Particularly around their facial animation and their delivery, they both can improve a joke by how they say it and what they're doing with their eyebrows, eyes, etc. It's no wonder to see why they're successful on HBO (with Nanjiani breaking out in the last year or so) and they take the semi-funny material here and elevate it. 

But otherwise, there's just not much to say about this film (I seriously dislike writing "meh" reviews, so I've learned to keep them short). It's plot is a comedy of errors that you would expect from something like this, the romance between the two is fine, but nothing overly cute or special, and the filmmaking itself is, say it with me, "fine". The soundtrack is "fine" and the supporting cast does "fine". All this to wrap up and say that The Lovebirds is - other than it's two leads - a movie you will watch, enjoy (likely a little more because it's a new movie in COVID-era), and forget by next month or weekend. No, it's not a ringing endorsement, but what else do you have to do right now?

CONS

• Feels unambitious in nearly every way. Name, plot, writing, filmmaking, music, etc. are all things we've seen before
• Unfunny trailer is a lackluster treat for a film that's funnier
• Going through the motions regarding its plot and wrapping up the film
• Forgettable

PROS

• The film owes almost everything to its two leads. It wouldn't be bad without them, but just painfully average. Rae and Nanjiani elevate the material here
• Particularly their comedic delivery and facial expressions are well utilized here
• Entertaining in a comedy-of-errors way
• Short and sweet

Rath's Review Score | 6/10