toddsgraham Review of Love Hard

Love Hard (2021)

Entertaining but lacking in chemistry between the leads...

[6/10 · 5 November 2021]

It is no Richard Curtis film, but it is entertaining nonetheless. The storyline revolves around Natalie (played by Nina Dobrev), a Los Angeles journalist, whose column chronicles her unlucky dating encounters. When she falls for her dream guy (from Lake Placid, NY) on a dating app, Tag (played by Darren Barnet), she decides to surprise him for the holidays. Things are not as they seem, as she soon finds out that she has been catfished by Josh (played by Jimmy Yang). And so, the romantic comedy begins as we follow Natalie's attempts to find real love. The film is a light-hearted exploration of the pitfalls of online dating and stresses how focusing on the physical misses the point of love (with some digs at the popular Christmas film 'Love Actually'). The writers draw on a popular plot device: deception/mistaken identity. Though in this film, this has multiple layers. There were several funny scenes and good dialogue between Natalie and Josh throughout the film. You will no doubt have a few laughing-out-loud moments as you watch. Indeed, the storyline kept me entertained and engaged throughout. The acting too was very strong. As a fan of the 'Vampire Diaries', I was looking forward to seeing Nina Dobrev on screen. Her performance did not disappoint. That is, she had a very convincing performance. Jimmy Yang had a decent performance as well (pulling off several funny one-liners). However, one of the weaknesses of the film was the lack of chemistry between the two (Natalie and Josh). Put simply, it was not convincing. As a result, the ending did not land, unfortunately. To be fair, I could feel this develop in Dobrev's performance as the film progressed, but felt no reciprocity here in Yang's performance. He was funny but not very convincing when it came to a romantic connection. Finally, the film had a nice Christmas vibe to it, and the soundtrack was pretty good as well. If you enjoy the romantic comedy Christmas movie genre, then this one is worth checking out.