Julien Neaves – Editor
Full disclosure – Netflix romcom Love, Guaranteed is not the type of movie I would seek out to watch on my own. These movies tend to be so very predictable, which is kind of boring for me both as a movie lover and film reviewer. But my wife loves these types of flicks so we popped it on, popped some popcorn and plopped down on the couch to watch it.
The film stars Rachael Leigh Cook (who turned heads way back in 1999 with She’s All That and is still quite the head turner) as struggling, big-hearted attorney Susan who takes on a charming client named Nick (Damon Wayans Jr from Happy Endings and New Girl) who wants to sue the eponymous dating site after being unable to find love after 1,000 dates. The film also features Heather Graham (Boogie Nights, The Hangover) as the Gwyneth Paltrow-esque owner of the site Tamara, and Kandyse McClure (Battlestar Galactica, Hemlock Grove) as Nick’s ex Arianna.
Firstly what I li…Wait? You want a SPOILER ALERT? Seriously? For this movie? Fine. SPOILER ALERT. Happy now. Sheesh! Firstly what I liked. The leads have great chemistry and are sweet together. There are a few comedic moments that land, mostly centred around Susan’s crappy car. And the film has the best use of Tiffany’s I Think We’re Alone Now since the first season of The Umbrella Academy. Tiffany getting them royalties!
But everything else is romcom box ticking. Gay friend – check. Initial dislike blossoms into love – check. Relationship hits a snag in the second act – check. Big public declaration of love – check please! If you’ve seen more than one romcom you’ve seen Love, Guaranteed before.
It’s not overly funny (Wayans doesn’t have that much to work with here) nor is it very inventive plot wise. But it does have a charm to it (thanks in no small part to the lead performances) that lifts it above your Hallmark fare. So if you’re in the mood for an innocuous, by-the-numbers romcom with attractive people you could do worse than Love, Guaranteed. And that is the Redmangoreviews guarantee.
Rating: 6.5 out of 10
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Julien “Jules” Neaves is a TARDIS-flying, Force-using Trekkie whose bedroom stories were by Freddy Krueger, learned to be a superhero from Marvel, but dreams of being Batman. I love promoting Caribbean film, creating board games and I am an aspiring author. I say things like “12 flavours of awesome sauce”.
I can also be found posting on Instagram as redmanwriter and talking about TV and movie stuff on Facebook at Movieville