Don’t let the title scare you, this Netflix movie is one of the best in the genre.
Maybe we all secretly want to believe in true love. In the fact that one day we go to the store and we meet someone in the queue, and by chance we are served by someone in our favorite cafe wearing a T-shirt with a quote from a movie that interests us…or we are sitting next to someone on the plane and we can immediately talk to him about… anything. Yes, we believe this deep down, even if we are very rational, and the filmmakers know this very well. Is there love at first sight? In the movie (Love at First Sight), coincidence plays a big role, and of course the flight attendant (Jameela Jamil), who watches over the characters as a kind of guardian angel.
The new Netflix production — based on the book by Jennifer E. Smith’s bestseller – also published in Hungarian – actually deals with the same questions (in a different capacity, of course) as one of this year’s most popular films, Past Lives. What role does chance play in the development of our lives, and what decisions do we make in the meantime? In the end, what would be more important?
The film’s two heroes meet at a New York airport, but this can only happen because Hadley (Haley Lu Richardson) missed the previous plane. As usual, his phone is dying, so he asks Oliver (Ben Hardy) for a charger. The two young men quickly start talking, and finally, thanks to several coincidences, they end up next to each other on the plane. When they arrive in London, they almost exchange numbers, but the girl’s phone goes dead again. What are their chances of finding each other in such a big city?
And certainly more so in the trilogy of inevitable romances, the prequels, in which social media didn’t yet exist. Vanessa Caswell, the film’s director (and, of course, screenwriter Katie Lovejoy), reflects on the fact that the concept of “disappearing lovers” may be taken much less seriously today than it was decades ago, but that’s actually the magic of this film. Film: The creators for a moment do not think that it is high art either, but it is still the most successful piece in the genre.
The structure of romantic comedies is often built on opposites. This is the kind where the ending is not the issue – because we know exactly that the lovers end up next to each other – the point is the battle of the sexes, where the characters realize that they need the person who seems so repulsive at first glance.
This formula can be observed perfectly in this film as well: Ben, the rational-minded math genius, and the scatterbrained Hadley can annoy each other, but in reality they complement each other. The girl helps the boy express his feelings (which he really needs, as his mother is seriously ill), and the latter restores order to his scattered love life. At the same time, it would be a shame to deny that the film is quite schematic in this regard. The English love Shakespeare, Americans lag everywhere, and those who are good at mathematics can come up with a formula for their favorite number. Plus, these stereotypes don’t actually get any more accurate during playtime, so the only thing that saves the movie in that regard is that Ben Hardy and Haley Lu Richardson are also a good fit (especially since the latter’s performance is so memorable).
The Netflix production touches on several themes and subplots (the relationship between the parents, Ben’s mother’s illness, the nature of love), but there’s really no time to deal with any of them during the playtime of just over 80 minutes. However, there are quite a few beautiful and tastefully realized moments, just think of the couple’s first dinner together, the moment they take off on the plane or the generally realized scenes taking place in the air (which are interesting mainly due to the use of lights).
Comedies are often criticized because they only show lovers finding each other, even though the initial spark is far more important than how the relationship is managed over the years and decades. Is there love at first sight? However, it ends with a caption saying that this is only the beginning. On the other hand, this movie wasn’t bad at all, the only question is why didn’t the streaming giant schedule the release on Valentine’s Day?
