3/5
Michael Showalter’s The Lovebirds is fine – a perfectly innocuous film about a couple learning that, maybe, the rough edges in their relationship are actually what makes them stronger. And it’s all wrapped up in the trappings of a ‘90s action-comedy – a genre for which I have a particular weakness. The narrative holds together well enough for the genre, and I especially like some of the ways they undercut their own plot mechanics and reveal the absurdity of the situation. But Showalter isn’t particularly adept at weaving together the action and mystery elements with the romantic comedy elements. The jarring tonal shifts leaves the entire enterprise weighed down by a slough of mediocrity. And as charming as Issa Rae and Kumail Nanjiani can be – as clever as their dialogue can be from time to time – they spend so much of their energy improvising in muddled and formless scenes, more interested in finding the next zinger than they are in telling a coherent story or giving us fully developed characters. The film isn’t terrible – it’s mildly diverting and fun. But with a cast and filmmaking team this talented, it should have been so much better.
