So.much.Céline Dion. So so so much. You think Titanic featured some Céline? At least it didn’t write her into the screenplay … and then have her play an active role … and then have the film embrace her lyrics as wisdom … all to a soundtrack also dominated by Céline Dion. If you’re not a concert person, but always wondered what Céline was like IRL, well, have I got a film for you.
Children’s book author Mira Ray (Priyanka Chopra Jonas) is in love and getting ready to take the plunge. And why shouldn’t she, her beau (Arinzé Kene) seems like the complete package … until he gets hit by a complete package of bus. That’s one of those lose-lose forever situations, isn’t it? I mean, even if Love Again finds Mira in the future, that love won’t ever be John, nor can that love compete with her imagination. Part of the beauty of Romeo and Juliet is they both die before we get a look at what they would have become. Their love can be forever iconic precisely because it ended prematurely. Ain’t that a bitch?
Two years later, Mira’s sister convinces our heroine to start dating again. Almost reflexively, Mira turns to a box of John’s old stuff and, for whatever reason, starts texting him again. She knows he’s dead. She doesn’t expect an answer. But she also didn’t bargain that John’s number would be recycled, and now that number is owned by music critic Rob Burns (Sam Heughan). You’re gonna name a character after fellow Scot and noted timeless poet Robert Burns and not mention such even once in the screenplay, aren’t you, film? Can’t say ‘I’m a fan of that.
.
Rob Burns has an assignment to interview Céline Dion, but is distracted by the woman who keeps texting her dead boyfriend.
Well wouldn’t you know it? Rob has lovelife issues of his own, having just been jilted at the altar. Seems wrong, doesn’t it? Both Rob and Mira are far too pretty to be heartbroken and single, huh? FWIW, Love Again gets cute with us twice early on. The first is when we see Mira’s number on screen: 917-1*67-5309* I wonder how close the writers were to naming her “Jenny.” The second is Mira’s app date, a disaster, opposite Joel (her real-life husband Nick Jonas) – so file Love Again under the weird trivial cache of films where spouses play opposite one another.
And there’s Céline Dion. The entire film is paced by Céline Dion, whether it be her music in the soundtrack, her lyrics oft discussed by the players in the film, or by Céline Dion in person, who plays herself as kind of a sage yenta. Rob Burns’ attempts to interview her are complete fails; she ends up interviewing him, which –I daresay- is a bit cute.
I have long held that the key to quality screen romance is we the audience have to want to fall in love with the people falling in love on screen. Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Sam Heughan are not my favorite screen couple, but they’ll do; I can easily see people going for either. Both leads are pretty and likable. But you’re not gonna get around the fact that the plot is a tad contrived and the film relies far too much on our love of Céline Dion, spouse, mother, widow, lover, sage, guru. Now I can get around these things. I like Céline Dion. Not a fraction as much as the film does, but I do like her. And I also have sympathy for lonely souls reaching out. Should Mira have guessed John’s number was recycled? Of course she should have. Are 99% of all wrong numbers spam, phishing, or just plain scams? Of course they are. But some are lonely souls who just want to make a connection. Hence, I’m not going to trash Love Again. It was cute … enough. If you you are a hopeless romantic, here’s some hope. But if you’re simply a fan of film, maybe try another romance.
♪There were scenes when the audience froze
And their bodies wondered what
Plot device would satisfy the boredom
There was dialogue oh so cruel
That all the paper shredders
Needed to be filled up the studio forever
I finished yawning in the instant that you left
And I can’t remember why I agreed or how
And I discovered in the dailies just how much you needed me
So when you quote me like this
And you frame me like that
It seems obvious
That this film is all about me
And when you shoot me like this
And play the soundtrack like that
It’s hard to ignore
That this film is all about me♫
Rated PG-13, 104 Minutes
Director: Jim Strouse
Writer: Jim Strouse, Sofie Cramer, Andrea Willson
Genre: The kind of movie the producers hope you’ll take a chance on when Guardians 3 is sold out
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: Fans of Céline Dion
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: “This is the stupidest plot I’ve ever seen”
♪ Parody Inspired by “It’s All Coming Back to Me Now”
