Director: Mark Steve Johnson
Cast: Rachel Leigh Cook, Damon Wayans Jr., Heather Graham, Lisa Durupt, Jed Rees
Netflix’s new romcom Love, Guaranteed, directed by Mark Steve Johnson, has all the markings of a cliched romance movie. Susan Whitaker (Rachel Leigh Cook) is a steadfast and honest lawyer who always tries to give a voice for the underdog. With a struggling law firm and no social life, Susan has not dated much, but makes the time to take up pro bono cases in a heartbeat. Enter her new client Nick Evans (Damon Wayans Jr.) who is out to sue an online dating site ‘Love Guaranteed’. Nick, a physical therapist, has been on 1000 first dates (!!) via the site and still has not found love as guaranteed by the site. As the two go through Nick’s storied dating life prepping to take on the big corporate guys, romance blossoms between the pair. And the rest as we know is history. Love, Guaranteed is filled with what yesteryear romance novels are made of. A meet cute, silly yet sweet flirting masked as ‘fights’, a whirlwind romance, and a courtroom proposal. But, after a point, the obvious becomes a bit too cliched that it may make even hardcore romantics roll their eyes. Romcoms are made to be cheesy with big gestures and heartfelt lines about love. Written by Hilary Galanoy and Elizabeth Hackett, Love, Guaranteed follows that trope religiously, perhaps a bit too much. In one instance, Nick is gushing to a friend about Susan and all her accomplishments but is also scared to date a woman like her. “What if I sink,” says Nick, to which comes the reply, “What if you swim?”.
With cheesy lines and puns hinting at the title, it is sometimes hard to miss the predictability of it all. Even the judge in the finale proposal, wants Susan to answer Nick’s “Do you love me” question in the courtroom, after his big speech on how love cannot be guaranteed. I mean who cares about the million-dollar lawsuit they are in the middle of fighting, right?
Nick and Susan share an endearing chemistry on screen. While Damon Wayans Jr. pulls off the role of a perfect good guy effortlessly (he wants to donate the money from the law suit towards a children’s wing at a PT centre), Rachel Leigh easily transforms from a cynical single woman to someone falling in love quite unexpectedly. What works for the film is the way the progress of the relationship is shown. Over the course of the case, the couple slowly take a liking towards each other, and there are marked moments of understanding (like babysitting Susan’s nephew) which help them choose each other.
A special mention to the music in the movie that gives an ode to Tiffany’s 80’s specials. It takes us down nostalgia highway and makes us go ‘aww’ for the cute couple. The film takes a subtle dig at online dating and elicits a laugh now and then by giving a peek into the oddball characters both the lead roles are made to interact with before they hit jackpot.
The way Nick titles his dates like Friends episodes is both charming and freaky at the same time. So, there’s the ‘One Who Talked About Her Cats All Night’, ‘The One Who Brought Her Parents to the Date’, ‘The One Who Ate Paper,’ and many more. Susan and Nick’s love story is aptly titled by Nick as ‘The One I Didn’t See Coming’. However, the story is something we all saw coming when the movie started.
Rating: 2.5/5
