2023 Movie
Dir. Jim Strouse · United States of America · English, Portuguese
This romcom, while cute, doesn’t have the charm or wits to pull off the genre’s many cliches
Love Again is cute. It’s cheesy and predictable, but it’s cute. Chopra makes for a fine leading lady who is able to switch between sorrow and sappy in a heartbeat. Heughan, though painfully generic, isn’t all that bad either; his hopelessly awkward attempts at getting Mira’s attention provides much of the film’s needed laughs. But outside of the bare minimum, Love Again doesn’t give us anything of value. The jokes are few and far between and the chemistry, if you can believe it, is even thinner. And for two people who are supposedly writers (Mira is children book’s author and Rob is a music journalist), none of their writings, much less their texts to one another, are particularly good.
Mira Ray, dealing with the loss of her fiancé, John, sends a series of romantic texts to his old cell phone number… not realizing the number was reassigned to Rob Burns' new work phone. Rob, a journalist, is captivated by the honesty in the beautifully confessional texts. When he’s assigned to write a profile of megastar Céline Dion, he enlists her help in figuring out how to meet Mira in person and win her heart.
Two years after losing her boyfriend to an accident, Mira (Priyanka Chopra) decides to send text messages to his old number, not realizing that it’s been reassigned to Rob (Sam Heughan), who himself is still reeling from a massive breakup; feeling an instant connection, Rob decides to learn more about Mira.
While it’s completely out of the realm of possibility for Celine Dion to coach a random journalist in love, the scene still stands out as an authentic moment, maybe the only one in this otherwise derivative movie. In advising Rob and later Mira, Dion mines from personal experience and talks about how she continues to grieve the passing of her real-life partner, Réne. Celebrity cameos, especially ones where they play themselves, are often injected in the movie for pure comedic relief, but Celine seems to do more than just provide awws and laughs here. In the few minutes she’s on, she gives absolute heart, which is more than what the leads can say.
Celine Dion is a glowing presence, but it’s never a good sign for a cameo to be the best part of a movie.
Renee Cuisia is the lead curator at A Good Movie to Watch. In her spare time, she likes to watch K-dramas and analyze them to death. She's also seen You've Got Mail one too many times but is still convinced it's one of the greatest films out there.
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