The cast of a movie matters to me when I watch it. I see Lucy Hale (good memories of watching all seven seasons of the teen mystery Pretty Little Liars) and Grant Gustin (The Flash series) and I'm excited by their collaboration. This is the first time these two are portraying a couple in love on screen. They are fine actors with impressive acting skills. What's more, it's a rom-com!
Are you thinking what I thought when I saw the film poster? Yes—whether or not these two have chemistry and can sell the same to viewers. I love dogs and used to have them as pets/security until I moved to a new place where there's no space to care for them. So the combo of rom-com and dogs got my attention. I'll give you a synopsis of the film.
Puppy Love (2023) is an American romantic comedy that focuses on obsessively neat and antisocial Max (played by Grant Gustin) who's struggling to let other people into his space. While speaking with his therapist online, she advises him to get a dog. Max adopts a cool, flop-eared spaniel that reminds me of the cartoon Lady And The Tramp.
In another scene, we meet Nicole (played by Lucy Hale), a carefree slob and party lover who sees a stray dog and adopts him too. Then these two dog lovers meet via social media. Their first date doesn't go well as Max criticises everything Nicole does. While the adults are talking (or arguing), the dogs become friends and have sex.
Nicole and Max angrily part ways until weeks later it is discovered that Max's dog is pregnant. How will these two dogs make the mismatched adults take responsibility for the coming puppies?
Review
The plot is great but the execution or storytelling totally falls short! I had high expectations. It's Lucy Hale and Grant Gustin collaboration as actors for the first time. They are skilled actors, what could go wrong? Answer: The screenplay.
Puppy Love focuses on an "opposite attracts" kind of relationship. Max is a neat, socially-shy person who loves his aloneness and personal space while Nicole is a slob, carefree and loves to party at night. They both have dogs. It's a total mismatch but directors Nick Fabiano and Richard Alan Reid try to convince viewers that these two can make their relationship work. Sadly, the audience is not convinced. This film is lacking in both romance and comedy.
The screenplay is simply terrible. No point sugarcoating this. It follows the usual rom-com clichés which viewers don't mind except it does it badly. Lucy Hale and Grant Gustin are excellent actors but the script of this film totally messes things up. Their acting is great but cannot in any way salvage poor writing. The dialogue is good but some of the remarks are not funny, dull and awkward sometimes. There are scenes where I cringe and wish I can appear on set and scream "cut!" Their dogs' acting is adorable though and kind of upstage the actors' talents.
I've always found Lucy Hale's movies entertaining, you know, those lounge-with-popcorn kind of movies that let you dream of a better life. However, I'm not happy that Puppy Love treats her and Grant Gustin this way. They deserve better. Even the supporting characters like the best friends, work colleagues and parents are boring. I'm wondering if the screenwriters deliberately wanted to bungle this film.
Overall, the screenwriters botched this film making it a dull and forgettable one. I watched it once and won't take a second look. I'll give it 2.8 stars out of 5. If you love romcoms, you may watch this film for the fun of seeing it.
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Other images are screenshots from the movie
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