Delayed Reaction: Love Hard

Premise: A woman surprises her internet boyfriend with a visit, only to discover she’s been catfished. But maybe that’s not a deal breaker.

 

There’s a nice level-setting line in this movie that really helps me talk about it. At one point, Nina Dobrev’s Natalia is talking to her friend on the phone who says something like “In L.A. you’re a 6, so in Lake Placid you’re a 10.” This is the kind of movie where Nina Dobrev is just a winsomely attractive woman. So, this is a fantasy world where all understanding of normal human behavior should be ignored.

 

With that understanding, I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. The catfishing and convoluted place-setting I’ll ignore. That’s just the cost of doing business for getting into this movie. Nina Dobrev is RomCom delightful. She’s another actress that could’ve thrived in the RomCom-friendly 90s. I like seeing Jimmy O. Yang in a human-scale role. Normally he’s a scene-stealing side-character. In this, he’s a believable romantic protagonist. Sure, maybe he wouldn’t really end up with a Nina Dobrev, but it’s not unbelievable that he could. I also appreciate that Darren Barnet’s character isn’t being made fun off. He’s not an awful person. Dobrev isn’t pursuing him even though he sucks, despite being so handsome. He’s a nice dude who Dobrev doesn’t actually mesh with.

 

I did watch the movie too early. I didn’t realize how much of a Christmas movie it was. I normally like to save those for post-Thanksgiving. Although, at the rate I’m posting these, it might be after New Year’s before this get posted. So, nothing about this is right. Some of the Christmas touches were fun. It chimed in on the “Is Die Hard a Christmas movie?” debate*. I’m in the category of people who like Love, Actually despite its flaws, so I enjoy the homage to that movie in this. And, the reworking of the “Baby It’s Cold Outside” lyrics was charming as hell.

 

*My stance: I don’t think it is. I’m fine if you do. Unless you can define what a “Christmas movie” means to you, then I won’t engage in a debate about it.

 

Verdict: Weakly Recommend