The Lovebirds Film Review

Directed by Michael Showalter

Starring:Issa Rae, Kumail Nanjiani, Paul Sparks

Rated R for sexual content, language throughout and some violence

The Lovebirds is a Netflix romantic comedy starring Kumail Nanjiani and Issa Rae. In this film, Leilani (played by Issa Rae) and Jibran (played by Kumail Nanjiani) are a couple that are on the run after they think they are framed for a murder. While on the run, they decide they should investigate the murder and clear their name. What ensure is a night filled with an adventure the couple will never forget.

To start off, our main leads, Rae and Nanjiani, have great chemistry. These two interact like how any couple would, to the warm feeling of falling in love to the bitter arguments that come with it. It’s believable how these two interact and one could mistake them for a real couple. On top of that, these two are quite funny together. These two come from a comedy background and use it to full effect in this film. I wouldn’t say the jokes in the film are laugh out loud hilarious, but they are still good jokes that get a chuckle out of me. But not every joke does stick the landing unfortunately. There are sometimes where either the jokes are unfunny or go on for too long.

The film itself is an hour and a half, which is the perfect runtime for a film like this. The film gets to the point and doesn’t waste any time with its short time. The film is fast paced, as we see the couple go to various places throughout the night. One scene they are in a bar, the next they are at a barn. It goes without saying that the film uses its setting of New Orleans to great use. But while the film does goes at full speed, there are some times where the film does lose some steam. This can be due to the film giving us some complicated exposition or the jokes in the film are not working at all.

Sure, The Lovebirds does have its fair share of issues, but its still enjoyable. There are some great moments and its stars Issa Rae and Kumail Nanjiani work great together as a couple who are madly in love at first, but then are on the brink of breaking up. I am glad The Lovebirds is a Netflix film because that’s where it works best. It’s a film to put on when you have 90 minutes to kill and you just want to have a good laugh.

3/4