Love Hard Hits Harder
Image Courtesy of Netflix
By Kat Kaderabek
Nina Dobrev has made her return to the screen as the star in Netflix’s most recent Christmas movie, Love Hard. The film also stars Never Have I Ever star Darren Barnet and Crazy Rich Asians actor Jimmy O. Yang. With an innovative plot that reflects modern-day social media dating, Love Hard was an entertaining watch if you do not think too hard about it. It is a feel-good movie, meant to evoke quick laughs and lots of Christmas spirit.
The movie follows the romantically disastrous love life of Natalie, an L.A. writer who is tired of dating L.A. men. After meeting a guy via a dating app on the other side of the country, Natalie flies out to visit him for Christmas on a whim, only to find she has been catfished by Josh Lin. To her surprise, the man she thought she was dating lives in the same town; Josh had used his photos to trick her into liking him. Desperate for a show-stopping article on how her disastrous dating life has turned around, Natalie convinces Josh to assist in setting her up with Tag, whose pictures Josh had used on his dating profile.
In true Hallmark-movie fashion, Natalie ends up falling not for the guy she originally wanted, but for the sweet and shy man who was too frightened to be himself online. The underdog always wins in a Christmas movie, and Love Hard is no different. It does, however, offer some very thrilling and even embarrassing scenes that capture the audience’s attention in a can’t-look-away fashion.
From wacky gimmicks to scenes that are downright hilarious, Love Hard keeps viewers fully engaged throughout the entire film. Set in snowy Lake Placid, the audience gets to watch as L..A.-girl Natalie adjusts to the town, as well as the hobbies of her soon-to-be boyfriend, Tag.
The ending of the film is predictable, but it still provides an entertaining watch to add to any Christmas collection. On a surface level, the plot is very interesting. However, taking a deeper dive will reveal there is little depth to the acting and writing. After days of knowing Natalie, she and Josh awkwardly get engaged in an effort to show up his attention-seeking older brother, Owen. Not only that, Josh’s grandmother immediately gives Natalie her own wedding ring and the family later throws a massive engagement party for the two after only having known Natalie for three days. Elements like this take away from the believability of the film. However, one can argue that a film like this does not need to have a water-tight plot. It is more about sappy entertainment than a realistic experience.
The cast had very awkward chemistry and had this element been stronger it could have taken the film to the next level. It was hard for viewers to fully believe any of the characters were actually attracted to each other. Part of that may have been due to the different roles audiences have seen them in before.
While the three protagonists are all in their early thirties, Barnet is famous for playing a teenage boy, Paxton, on Never Have I Ever. Likewise, Yang’s presence throughout the film industry has tagged him as a young, sidekick character instead of the mature, serious but shy character of Josh Lin that Love Hard needed him to be. Dobrev’s earlier years had her playing a teenage girl wrapped up in the supernatural world on The Vampire Diaries, and many fans may have a hard time separating the two characters. Though very visibly aged from her youthful days of playing Elena Gilbert, Dobrev still has managed to retain that wizened charm she applied to her Vampire Diaries alter-ego, Katherine Pierce. Her portrayal of Natalie in Love Hard contrasted uncomfortably with her seemingly younger costars. Overall, the casting of this movie felt disjointed and without any believable chemistry between the co-stars. The crazy and gimmicky plot may be forgivable, but the cheesy acting and lack of on-screen chemistry are what really did this film in. It is a great movie to watch for its entertainment value, but not if you’d like to learn a life lesson or are looking for something moving. It’s cute. It’s simple. It had the chance to be unique, but it fumbled this opportunity with poor acting. So Love Hard hits, but the awkward casting hits harder.
