The Lovebirds - Review

The premise of The Lovebirds is not some complex, original idea. Take two likable actors, throw them into a life altering, dangerous scenario, and let them bounce off each other for 90 minutes and boom, you get the almost yearly chaotic comedy. The film was forced to Netflix due to the growing global crisis, but it’s arguable that The Lovebirds feels like it was always destined for the streaming world.

On the brink of breaking up, a couple (Kumail Nanjiani & Issa Rae) gets unintentionally embroiled in a bizarre murder mystery. As they get closer to clearing their names and solving the case, they need to figure out how they, and their relationship, can survive the night.

The easiest compliment to throw at The Lovebirds is the phenomenal chemistry between its two leads. It completely relies on the two of them and putting them in cliché situations, but the comedic chops of Rae and Nanjiani are worth the figurative price of admission. For the both of them, this feels like a stepping stone in their rapidly growing careers

Other than that, The Lovebirds travels a well-trodden path. There’s a death near the beginning, and it still is the least strange thing to happen to the misfortunate couple throughout the night. And as they bumble their way through various harebrained ideas and schemes to end the wildest night of their relatively normal lives, it’s reminiscent of at least one scene from at least one other film that’s come before, just with Nanjiani and Rae instead.

Scratch that blanket statement actually, since one scene in particular is completely out of left field that its hard to imagine where the idea even came from and why it was included here. Even still, outside of the puzzling addition of a cult, The Lovebirds plays it beat by predictable beat, surviving solely on the draw of its leads to carry it beyond its unimaginative and rudimentary set up.

The Lovebirds comes at a time where new content is at a premium. People are confined to their homes with potentially only Netflix or other streaming services providing them with entertainment. With that in mind, there are certainly worse things to watch on any of said services, and with a running time under 90 minutes, The Lovebirds is a super undemanding watch. Essentially it boils down to the question of: do you like one or both of Issa Rae and Kumail Nanjiani? If yes, watch them do their thing for 90 minutes and hope that they get a better outlet for their talents in the future.