Directed by Michael Showalter, The Lovebirds dropped on Netflix on May 22, starring Issa Rae as Leilani and Kumail Nanjiani as Jibran. It’s the first movie to skip the theatres and go for a digital release. It is an average rom-com without much to offer. The storyline is pretty basic, and it has an overall passable premise.
The Lovebirds? Not really…
Out of all the rom-coms I have seen before, The Lovebirds would fall in the category of ‘Why did I even watch this?’ The movie features an amazing cast capable of doing so much more than just getting kicked by a horse, breaking heels, fighting throughout, etc.
The Lovebirds revolves around a romantic murder mystery. Honestly, the movie does start beautifully but after the 4 years leap, it gets monotonous and weird. Jibran and Leilani believe they are going to jail for a murder they didn’t commit. Too afraid to go to the cops, they decide to solve the crime themselves in order to clear their names. But the police are just finding them to protect them from being attacked by the actual killer. They end up in an Illuminati meeting, they get caught, and then they realize all the run was for nothing. The plot thickens, a bad cop tries to kill them in a boat but woohoo! Ultimately they are saved. Love won. Well, kind of.
Stream it or Skip it?
Through small moments of fear of being killed, we get to know that Jibran and Leilani still have feelings for each other and it’s not the end. Rae and Nanjiani don’t quite fit as the charming, clumsy couple the story require them to be. The film isn’t exactly boring but it isn’t even the rom-com you will want to watch. It does promise a little chuckle.
The Lovebirds has two of the funniest people in not so funny circumstances. Rae and Nanjiani do more than their best to give justice to their characters but the blandness in the jokes and a basic story was the iceberg that they should have steered clear from. The Lovebirds isn’t the movie you will want to pay for and watch in a theatre, and it’s probably for the best that it received a digital release.
The Lovebirds is now streaming on Netflix.