I saw plenty of previews for the new comedy The Lovebirds in theaters over the past few months, but since most new releases are, well, not being released, then it may come out to other outlets to release smaller movies like this one.

Netflix apparently agreed with that assessment for at least this movie, so The Lovebirds is now available to anyone with a Netflix subscription. And now that I’ve seen it, well, was it worth my time?

The movie opens with a cute first date between documentary filmmaker Jibran (Kumail Nanjiani) and ad executive Leilani (Issa Rae) during which the two really hit it off. Then the story flashes forward four years, and we see the two are still together, but perhaps not for much longer as the pair seem to do nothing but bicker. En route to a party, the pair have their car commandeered by a cop (Paul Sparks) who proceeds to run over and murder a cyclist. Leilani had ended up with the cyclist, but the real issue is the quick realization that the cop may not be a cop and since he disappeared, they could very well be on the hook for the cyclist’s murder. The only thing to do is go on the run and try to find the real killer if they can stop arguing long enough to do that.

In many ways, The Lovebirds is very much a Netflix kind of movie. It’s not exactly the sort of thing that requires a trip to the multiplex but isn’t a complete waste of someone’s time. Nanjiani and Rae have good chemistry and good comic timing, and while it isn’t on par with director Michael Showalter’s previous collaboration with Nanjiani–the autobiographical The Big Sick–it does have its charms. Outside of the two leads, Sparks can play a sleaze-ball in his sleep, such that I tend to see him as one even when he isn’t playing one (that’s when I don’t see him as a discount Bradley Cooper), and comedic character actress Anna Camp brings some good laughs to an interrogation scene in a barn.

That said, much of this movie seems to be Nanjiani and Rae bickering back and forth, often in scenes that drag the movie to a halt. Considering the movie only has a 90 minute or so runtime, and that there is an actual plot here, why spend time watching the plot drag to a halt every time these two argue? Granted, the movie itself seems to acknowledge how grating the arguing can be, but it does seem to be a bit much. It’s a problem for a lot of modern comedies where the plot gets shuffled aside to allow the actors a chance to riff and improv. Sometimes that works very well. Sometimes, not so much. The Lovebirds has a charming pair of comedians that play off each other well, and still the bickering got to me a bit.

I did like a lot about this movie, and I don’t mind that I sat through it, but it wasn’t anything overly special in the grand scheme of things.

Grade: C+


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