Love Again is a modern day You've Got Mail but much, much worse.
Two years after her boyfriend dies, Mira finds herself continuing to harbor feelings of regret, which make it difficult for her to move on. When she is inspired by a friend to "speak" to her dead lover, Mira begins texting his old phone number. Sharing a deep love and connection through text, Mira has no idea that her late boyfriend's phone number has been assigned to Rob. Rob, at first confused, falls in love with Mira and her words. It is not long before he decides to get her to fall in love with him back.
Seen It Before
The premise for Love Again is a pretty classic rom-com set-up. Full of lies, deceit, and ample opportunities to admit the truth, which are never taken. Although a story that we have seen before, in my mind, Love Again had some promise. How do you mess up a rom-com with such a tried and true premise? First, cast two stars without any chemistry.
Priyanka Chopra Jonas is Mira and Sam Heughan is Rob. Heughan, you may know from TV's Outlander. An incredibly popular, addictive show. Heughan has proven on that show that he can act and he can have great chemistry with his onscreen partner. Chopra Jonas, on the other hand, is as wooden as the table my laptop is currently sitting on. Any chemistry that Heughan is trying to find is being actively hidden away by Chopra Jonas. As the person we are meant to follow and care about, Mira is an awkward, unfunny character. Which immediately makes it difficult to get invested in her story.
Silly Writing
Beyond the chemistry issue, the film suffers from lazy writing. Every beat you expect the film to hit, it does. Every beat you thought rom-coms left behind in the early aughts, Love Again brings back with a vengeance. One of our leads writing for a magazine? Check. One of our leads having a gay best friend? Check. It is all so obvious and tired.
The one thing that Love Again has that other rom-coms don't is Celine Dion propaganda. As the one writing for a magazine, Rob is tasked with writing a piece about Dion. This results in one of the strangest subplots I have seen in a major motion picture in recent years.
If you are looking for a mindless rom-com to enjoy on your Friday night, I assure you Love Again is not what you should pick out. Yes, it is mindless and yes, it has something resembling both Rom and Com. But I promise you, whoever you are, you deserve better.
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