'The Love Hypothesis' Review: A Charming Rom-Com That Doesn't Re-Invent The Wheel
Amazon continues to usher in the renaissance of the rom-com with their latest feature The Love Hypothesis, an adaptation of Ali Hazelwood’s beloved novel that may not re-invent the wheel, but is exceedingly charming nonetheless.
‘The Love Hypothesis’ centers on Olive (Lili Reinhart), a Stanford University biology PH.D. candidate who is laser focused on her studies. However, when she discovers that her friend Anh (Rachel Marsh) has feelings for her crush Jeremy (Nicholas Duvernay), she impulsively kisses an intimidating and highly maligned professor Adam Carlson (Tom Bateman) to prove she has moved on and is dating. As a result, both Olive and Adam decide to make a mutual agreement where they will pretend to date one another so she can enable Ahn to pursue Jeremy and so that he can prove he has roots on campus to secure more funding for his work. Naturally, what starts out as a harmless ruse evolves into something far more exciting and complicated.
Any rom-com’s success securely rests on the shoulders of its two leads and thankfully director Clare Scanlon has cast the perfect set. Reinhart and Bateman’s chemistry is undeniable, making for a wonderfully mis-matched pair, their drastically different personalities and sensibilities making for an endlessly entertaining and endearing courtship. Reinhart remains effortlessly likable and charming here as Olive, bringing a warmth, vulnerability and pathos to the character as she tries to balance her work with her burgeoning romance. Bateman is also terrific here as well, nailing the cold-hearted and clinical aspects of the character in addition to his slowly developing humanity and heart, a transition he sells deftly as Adam slowly begins to fall for Olive. The two of them keep the film light on its feet and breezy, never hitting a false note as their characters head toward their inevitable trajectory.
The supporting performances are also very strong here. Jaboukie Young-White is fantastic as Malcolm, a fellow student of Olive’s who works on Adam’s team. He brings consistent laughs and charm in spades, making the typical rom-com side character anything but and far more compelling than expected. Marsh is also terrific as Anh, sharing a palpable chemistry with Reinhart as they make their friendship feel fully lived-in and authentic. Within just a matter of minutes on them on screen together, the audience has no trouble understanding why Olive would go to such lengths in order to make her friend happy and remove herself from the equation, a true testament to Reinhart and Marsh’s natural chemistry and performances.
The combination of Scanlon’s direction behind the camera and the script from Sarah Rothschild makes for a winning cocktail, the former keeping the momentum high and the focus on character rather than needlessly showy direction while the latter does an admirable job balancing the film’s humor and heart. Rothschild’s script also impressively navigates the trappings of the genre with confidence and assurance, leaning into them and wearing them earnestly instead of trying to avoid them entirely. It’s also wildly refreshing to see characters in a rom-com that don’t constantly attempt to obfuscate their feelings, but instead bluntly say how they feel in order to resolve a conflict. It may be a minor detail that some may not pay much mind to, but in a genre where characters consistently obscure their feelings for the sake of drama and plot mechanics, this was a welcomed change of pace.
However, this rom-com falls victim to many of the guardrails and more so the tried and true formula that has made the genre such a revered staple. The film is as predictable as many rom-coms come, rarely offering up any narrative surprises or swerves that keep the audience on their toes. The fake lovers turned real lovers dynamic has been played out countless times in the genre and while Bateman and Reinhart sell it very well, it’s abundantly clear that it’s well-worn territory with very little left to explore if any at all. As a result, it doesn’t take long to decipher where these characters will end up and where this story will head regardless of having read the novel or not. The film would’ve also benefited from fleshing out its side characters a bit more, leaving many of them with very little meat on the bone despite the game, lively performances. Also not helping matters is the film’s unnecessarily bloated runtime of nearly two hours, especially when the the narrative is as predictable as it is.
‘The Love Hypothesis’ coasts off the endless charm of Reinhart and Bateman as it delivers a highly entertaining and delightfully nerdy rom-com that may not be the most original entry into the genre, but has plenty to offer fans of it and the novel itself. This rom-com may not attempt to re-invent the wheel here, but it certainly manages to give it one helluva good spin.