Love Again Movie Review: Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Sam Heughan's Predictable Romcom is Further Let Down by Cliche-Ridden Story-Telling (LatestLY Exclusive)
Love Again is a romcom directed by James C Strouse starring Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Sam Heughan. The film is playing in theatres right now.
Love Again Movie Review: Love Again is a mushy romcom that pulls every stereotype from the commercial movie arsenal of the 2000s. It felt like I was taken back in time to a period when studio films were continually churned out and every two releases felt familiar in many aspects. It was essentially a predictable story with a very interesting premise that they executed in the most milquetoast way possible, with Love Again stumbling before it could even take its first stride. Love Again Review: Priyanka Chopra and Sam Heughan's Rom-Com Garners Mixed Reactions From Critics!
Directed by James C Strouse, Love Again follows Mira Ray (Priyanka Chopra Jonas) who is trying to cope with the death of her long-term boyfriend. One night when she decides to text his phone, someone at the other end by the name of Rob Burns (Sam Heughan) starts receiving the messages and begins falling for her. Rob tracks her down and starts dating Mira, unbeknownst to her that he is the person who currently owns her dead husband’s phone number. What follows is a story where both of them try finding love again (I had to do it) and try letting go of the past as well.
The premise reminded me a lot of Irrfan Khan's classic, The Lunchbox. Over there, a widower begins a conversation with a young housewife through lunchboxes, and it's a great watch - but whereas that picture has depth, Love Again lacks it in spades. Something valuable could have come from this story, but the filmmakers are more preoccupied with displaying a fairytale world laced with all the elements of a safe romcom. Not to mention the completely commercialised view of how modern dating works, as most of what is presented here is not how people actually date in real life.
Love Again never really takes risks in its plot, and it portrays a fallacy in which the fundamental drama frequently feels strange. Even while Sam's pursuit of Mira is creepy in every aspect, it never punishes its protagonists. He's one wrong step away from being a pretty effective stalker, and the film addresses this briefly before brushing it aside to allow sparks to ignite between the leads. This is a significant issue since so much could be written about dealing with loss or finding love in the darkest of times and... Love Again does none of these things.
Watch the Trailer for Love Again:
Priyanka Chopra Jonas sure is bubbly and sweet as Mira and Sam Heughan’s portrayal of a man trying to connect with himself can be entertaining in bits, but that’s not enough – you need more here. Celine Dion also appears in the film as a fictionalised version of herself, and much of Love Again felt like a massive advertisement for her considering how much the film can’t wait to break into one of her songs (she has an entire credits sequence dedicated to her). However, credit where credit is due, she does try ham up the more drab nature of the film. Also, Nick Jonas makes a hilarious cameo as a gym-bro, and his sequence with Priyanka is one of the film's more enjoyable moments. Love Again: Priyanka Chopra Talks about Her ‘Terrifying Experience’ While Filming the Movie.
It all comes down to a finale that seems to take a minute to wrap up. Every conflict gets resolved quick, the leads do a climactic kiss, a Celine Dion song starts playing and I am there chomping down on my hot dog trying to figure out what sauce they used, because honestly, that was more entertaining in the moment.
Yay!
Sometimes It’s Funny
Nay
Predictable Plot
Let’s Down Its Interesting Premise
Final Thoughts
Love Again is the equivalent of watching a 100-minute-long Celine Dion commercial. Think of it how you may, but that didn’t work for me unfortunately. Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Sam Heughan try to bring some kind of redeeming factor to the film; however, the writing just lets down an interesting premise with some predictable and safe storytelling. Love Again is playing in theatres right now.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 12, 2023 07:59 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).