The Lovebirds is a movie that, under normal circumstances, could seem like something you’ve seen before:A couple in the midst of breaking up is wrongly implicated in a random murder, and in the course of one night, they have to figure out how to get themselves out of trouble while also trying to decide whether their relationship should really be over. It’s your seemingly average Bonnie and Clyde plot, which, let’s face it, has been done. But the people at the center of this new iteration are what make it so damn enjoyable. Issa Rae and Kumail Nanjiani, who play Leilani and Jibran, are officially my favorite rom-com couple of 2020.
The film starts with the morning after their very first date. The dream-y opening sequence makes it pretty clear that the two actors have great chemistry, but where it gets even better is when the movie jumps four years forward. They’re not the perfect couple anymore, and while the charm is gone, Issa and Kumail look like they’re having even more fun acting through the couple’s arguments than they were acting through that first date haze. Their fights feel like they could have been yours (one particularly funny one is about how Issa’s character cares too much about her Instagram presence, which, yes), and the story takes on a level of relatable that lasts even through the couple’s crazy and unrealistic adventures.
Not only do they have great chemistry, but they look like a real couple that actually exists in America. It’s particularly refreshing to watch two people of color star in a movie like this, in a genre that has been dominated by white couples for so long, and absolutely crush it. It makes watching movies like this exciting again. Couples that look like real couples. What a concept!
The story has its totally out-there moments, like one scene where Jibran survives a particularly brutal kick to the chest from a horse (you have to watch for yourself, seriously), and when the two of them attend a sex party with a bunch of rich people wearing weird masks that makes you say, “Wait, what?” But the movie works because they react to all these ridiculous situations the way a normal couple would. Like, Leilani’s response to seeing all the people in their masks is to call it some “Handmaid’s Tale bullsh*t.” When they’re on the run from the cops but see an officer in a patrol car giving them the stink eye, they relax when he keeps driving and decide he’s just a “regular racist.” Issa and Kumail have great comedic timing separately, but this movie really allows them to shine together.
The Lovebirds is exactly what you want it to be: it’s laugh-out-loud funny and doesn’t make you feel the need to go read think pieces after the credits roll. It’s an hour and a half, and every minute is enjoyable. Yes, it’s totally ridiculous, but in the best way possible.
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