‘You seem like a nice, though somewhat annoying couple…’
It feels like more than ever a genre film has to change the game in order to receive any kind of recognition. Kumail Nanjiani did just that with his groundbreaking comedy The Big Sick. That movie showed us that mainstream romantic comedies can be dark, smart and grounded in authenticity. The Lovebirds is a return to more traditional rom-com fare, and while it is in no way innovative, it is mostly a whole lot of fun.
Jibran (Nanjiani) and Leilani (Issa Rae) are coming to the end of their relationship. When their imminent break up is rudely interrupted by their involvement in a hit and run accident, the feuding couple must work together to overcome a series of outlandish gangster based troubles.
This should be fertile ground for a rom-com. As someone who prefers sadness to happiness, I’d love to see a rom-com that is just a couple arguing for two hours. Alas, your average cinema attending Joe isn’t interested in such conflict and instead prefers to indulge silly notions such as love and happiness. Director Michael Showalter resists the heartbreak edition of The Lovebirds, instead choosing the low hanging fruit of traditional story structure instead. The result is a film that is only occasionally funny, but is often carried along by the sheer strength of Nanjiani and Issa Rae and their undeniable chemistry.
I shouldn’t complain. This was the first from the list of Heartwarming or Explicitly Christmas Based Christmas Films 2020 that I have been compiling for some weeks now. And it did warm my heart. And my cockles. Whatever they are.
The Lovebirds is a perfectly serviceable, slightly above average, romantic comedy. And sometimes, that is all any of us really want.