The Lovebirds review

THE LOVEBIRDS: 

WILD NIGHT ROM-COM IS A FUNNY ALBEIT FORMULAIC TIME WASTER! 

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: *** out of 4

NETFLIX AND PARAMOUNT PICTURES

Kumail Nanjiani and Issa Rae in The Lovebirds

            A couple unintentionally gets tangled up in a murder mystery plot in The Lovebirds, the new romantic-comedy directed by Michael Showalter (Wet Hot American Summer, Hello, My Name is Doris, The Big Sick) and starring Kumail Nanjiani (Silicon Valley, The Big Sick, Stuber) and Issa Rae (Insecure, The Hate U Give, The Photograph). Originally scheduled for a theatrical release by Paramount but was delayed due to the closing of movie theaters during the COVID-19 pandemic to the point where the studio decided to pawn it off to Netflix. 

            This is Showalter and Nanjiani’s second collaboration together following The Big Sick in 2017 which was unanimously praised by critics and audiences with its smart writing, bold characters, and legitimate drama, clearly The Lovebirds will be a worthy follow-up to that movie…Eh, not exactly. While The Big Sick is a movie with a lot of replay value, The Lovebirds comes off as a perfectly average and enjoyable time waster while you’re in the moment and never watch it again afterwards. 

            The concept of a bickering couple getting roped into a wild night of shenanigans that brings them closer together by the end is nothing new and this film doesn’t really add much variety to that formula anyway. If you’ve seen the 2010 Steve Carell and Tina Fey comedy, Date Night then you pretty much already know the plot of this movie. 

            However, much like Date Night the chemistry between its leads is where the movie shines and a good chunk of the humor, though I’ll go on record and say I did not laugh nearly as often as I did with Date Night. It’s not a bad thing but I just want to throw that out there, with all that out of the way, let’s talk about The Lovebirds.

            The film follows Jibran (Nanjiani) and Leilani (Rae), who have been together for quite some time, and it really shows in their relationship. They both constantly argue about a variety of things and they just don’t have the same affection for each other that they had four years ago. 

            However, these two “Lovebirds” get in a huge pickle when Jibran accidentally hits a biker with his car and a mysterious man with a Mustache (Paul Sparks-Boardwalk Empire, House of Cards, Thoroughbreds) claiming to be a cop hijacks the car to repeatedly run the biker over and over again to death…oh, and he flees from the scene immediately afterwards. Believing they will be blamed for the crime because of their indescribable story and racial profiling, Jibran and Leilani go on a wild and outrageous journey to clear their names from one hilarious situation to the next. 

            The film also stars Anna Camp (True Blood, Pitch Perfect trilogy, Café Society) as Edie, Kyle Bornheimer (Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Casual, Marriage Story) as Brett, and Moses Storm (Unfriended, Father of the Year, Sunnyside) as Steve. 

            Overall, The Lovebirds is a moderately fun comedy romp with some laughs, a gripping mystery, and strong performances by its leads. It isn’t perfect though, at times some of the jokes feel extremely forced, and both Kumail Nanjiani and Issa Rae constantly bicker and ramble all throughout the film; sometimes it can be funny but other times it feels like their long, rapid-speaking dialogue grinds the movie to a halt and you just want them to shut up for about 5 minutes. 

            With that said, Kumail and Issa’s performances are quite good despite their bickering getting annoying after a while. Kumail is pretty much portraying the same character he played in Stuber, but it works for a movie like this and Issa as the loud, ecstatic girlfriend, they (almost) work perfectly but their characters take a dive into constant arguing for most of the running time. 

            I get it, their relationship isn’t as strong as it used to be, but do they really need to argue and bicker every chance they get? It’s an issue with both the characters and the plot itself because literally as soon as their romantic first date ends and the “Four Years Later” text appears they’re in the middle of an argument and their relationship is starting to fall apart, I would have preferred more buildup to that so it would be easier to grow attached to them and root for them to get back together by the end, as is it feels a bit rushed. 

            The Lovebirds doesn’t quite offer the wild night comedy its trailers advertised, but it makes for a perfectly serviceable one-viewing movie. It has its funny moments and the performances by Kumail and Issa are good for this kind of movie, if you’re curious then it wouldn’t hurt to give it a watch. 

            However, if you’re looking for a non-stop laugh riot, you’d be better off watching Date Night instead. The Lovebirds is funny, but it doesn’t really leave an impression once it ends, so be a little cautious while watching it.