The Lovebirds (2020)
Directed by Michael Showalter
A couple experiences a defining moment in their relationship when they are unintentionally embroiled in a murder mystery. As their journey to clear their names takes them from one extreme – and hilarious - circumstance to the next, they must figure out how they, and their relationship, can survive the night.
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What critics say influenced The Lovebirds
The only other film this comedy seems more aware of jabbing is Eyes Wide Shut, which happens to be one of the film’s more satisfying riffs.
It’s got elements of Date Night , Game Night and Eyes Wide Shut ; it even borrows a bit from Nanjiani’s 2019 action comedy Stuber .
Factoring in some of that need, "The Lovebirds" felt good...it's a fairly shallow, straight-forward and predictable romantic-action-comedy that works mostly as a distraction...but who couldn't use a bit of a distraction right now? Nanjiani and Rae play an on-the-rocks couple who break up, literally, at the exact moment they are sucked into a murder plot involving a "bicycle," a "mustache," several frat-boys and an underground "Eyes Wide Shut" sex cult made up of local politicians and influential citizens.
For reasons that are unclear their efforts to clear their names drop Jibran and Leilani into an "Eyes Wide Shut" situation that exists purely for the sake of existing.
From an Eyes Wide Shut-style secret society gathering to a frat party soundtracked by "Semi-Charmed Life," there's a predictability to the plot that's familiar without being totally tired.
Showalter is also a member of influential alt-comedy troupe The State, and The Lovebirds takes a brief detour into the surreal when Jibran and Leilani end up at an Eyes Wide Shut-style sex party, but the movie quickly pulls back from the weirdness and returns to conventional storytelling.
It’s got elements of Date Night , Game Night and Eyes Wide Shut ; it even borrows a bit from Nanjiani’s 2019 action comedy Stuber .
But The Lovebirds reminded me pleasantly of 2018’s Game Night , in how it’s about ordinary people who get caught up in movie-movie mischief and violence, and how they play along with it even as they’re slightly horrified with themselves over it: Rae and Nanjiani work their everywoman and -man charm to the max.
The Lovebirds — initially slated to premiere at this spring's SXSW, then landing at Netflix after Paramount pulled it from theatrical release due to the novel coronavirus pandemic — is a high-concept absurdist comedy that sits comfortably alongside 2010's Date Night (starring Tina Fey and Steve Carell) or the more recent Game Night (starring Jason Bateman and Rachel McAdams), another nocturnal whodunit.
The movie itself recalls 2018's Game Night in that it focuses on a couple who're having issues, only to find themselves swept up in a one-crazy-night adventure which forces them to be really honest with one another for the first time in a while.
Like 2018’s Game Night , we’re watching two very relatable people engage with one extremely unlikely situation.
Whether it’s an actual couple—like in Game Night or Date Night—or a mismatched buddy cop pairing— The Nice Guys or The Other Guys (at least they’re consistent).
Whether it’s an actual couple—like in Game Night or Date Night—or a mismatched buddy cop pairing— The Nice Guys or The Other Guys (at least they’re consistent).
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Laziness can work in comedy, but these kinds of movies — Knight and Day and Snatched and The Tourist et al among them — seem to expend their energy in all the wrong ways.