The Lovebirds (2020)

The Lovebirds (2020)

5/10

Starring

Kumail Nanjiani

Issa Rae

Directed by Michael Showalter

The movie made me laugh a couple of times when some very unexpected things happened. I’ll give it one thing: it’s watchable. The sad part is—it’s not memorable. After seeing it once, I can’t imagine myself ever wanting to sit through it again. In fact, the main problem of the film is that it lacks something catchy that you can hold and say this is what this movie has to offer.

Issa Rae’s acting was disappointing. The best way to put it is—in this film, she acted like she was acting. Everything seemed forced, from the smiles to the frowns. I really tried to like Issa Rae in this movie because it’s the first thing of hers I’ve seen. I know she’s popular for her own show, but after the bad acting in the first 10 minutes, I kept hoping she’d warm up and really get into the character. Unfortunately, she never did. It made me wonder if her other movies and shows are similar, and honestly, it’s put me off wanting to see them.

The movie had a nice setup: here’s a couple (played by Rae and Kumail Nanjiani) going through what they believe is a rough patch in their relationship. Just as they decide to take a drastic step to fix things, an officer hijacks their car and turns their lives upside down. The officer drags them into his mess, and after one bad decision by him, the couple—being minorities—decide to do what they think is best: they run from the cop and what he’s done.

Without giving away spoilers, the movie follows them as they try to figure out what happened and get ahead of things before the police track them down and piece together their involvement.

Knowing that this movie was directed by Michael Showalter made watching it even worse for me. He worked with Nanjiani on The Big Sick (2017), which was an amazing rom-com. This follow-up movie is a big letdown in comparison.

The Lovebirds is an okay film you can catch on Netflix. There’s not much to expect, so I’d recommend lowering your expectations. If you haven’t read anything about the movie before watching it, like I didn’t, be prepared for some surprising twists and turns. Unfortunately, those twists don’t make up for the odd pairing of the leads or the lack of a good supporting cast. Kumail Nanjiani carried the movie on his own, but even his efforts couldn’t save it.