Writer-director Jeff Rosenberg with co-writer Laura Jacqmin have come up with a romantic comedy premise that feels in line with several others in that it's ridiculous. Could it happen in real life? Sure. Has it happened in real life? Maybe. However, it just seemed implausible. Yet, implausibility is often a feature and not a bug in most romantic comedies from Hollywood. Implausibility can be forgiven because often people simply want to be swept up in the idea of romance and two people falling in love, overcoming odds and living happily ever after. The title of this film would suggest that two people falling in love, overcoming odds and living happily ever after isn't the goal. The title suggests the opposite in fact. If that's the case, then forgiving the implausibility of things becomes more difficult because you're not getting swept up in the romance. You're instead crashing down. In that case, one of several things needs to work, either the romance or the comedy, and I'm not sure either do.
William Jackson Harper (Dark Waters and Midsommar) stars as Doug, an African-American man who is currently dating a white woman named Lori, played by Aya Cash (The Boys and You're the Worst). They've been dating for ten years. At the beginning of this film, Doug asks Lori to marry him in a very spontaneous and off-the-cuff way. Yet, if they've been dating for a decade, one would assume that Doug would know Lori well enough, so that he could anticipate what her response would be to that question. However, he's completely shocked because Lori's reaction is to vomit and then not respond at all. As a result, he breaks up with her and walks away.
Strangely, this proposal comes a day before the two of them are set to go to the wedding of Lori's sister. Given that he just broke up with Lori, it seems incredulous that he would still attend the wedding of Lori's sister. Yet, Doug insists that he goes, despite having dumped the bride's sister, just one day prior. There is an interesting idea in how sometimes the romantic partners of family members become akin to being family members. At one point, Doug says that Lori's sister is like a sister to him personally. As such, I get how Doug would still want to attend the wedding, but, given the circumstances, it just seems incredibly implausible that he would still go or he would not contact Lori's sister directly. It also feels incredibly selfish, inconsiderate or petty that he would do so, which off the bat doesn't help to build romance in what's supposed to be a romantic comedy.
Sarah Bolger (Mayans M.C. and Into the Badlands) co-stars as Bea, the sister to Lori. She's the younger sister. The fact that she's getting married before her older sister adds to the tension. The fact that she's also thinking about having children before her older sister is another bit of tension that's more of an undercurrent than anything else. A lot of the tension though isn't with her sister directly. Most of the tension is with her mother who doesn't seem too impressed with either Lori or her fiancé named Jayson, played by Tony Cavalero (The Righteous Gemstones and School of Rock), who looks like a beach bum or an out-of-shape surfer bro. Given the film centers around Bea and Jayson's wedding, it's odd that they're not the stars here. If anything, I ended up caring about Bea and Jayson more than I cared about Doug and Lori.
Like any romantic comedy from Hollywood, the premise is one that's basically one or more of the main characters lying to one another or to others. This one is no different. The lie here is that Doug and Lori decide not to tell Bea or anybody at the wedding about the fact that the two of them broke up. They believe that the bad news would ruin the mood. One could argue that their intentions are good, but it doesn't even seem as if either put much effort to perpetuate the lie. For example, Doug doesn't go a day before he's already flirting with and kissing another woman. Yes, in his mind, he's broken up from Lori, but what would happen if someone sees him with this other woman or if the other woman talks about their kiss? This wedding isn't that big and all the people are staying together, so a transgression like their kiss would be difficult to keep undercover. Doug isn't even trying to hide it. His transgression is practically out in the open.
If the goal is to convince us that Doug doesn't love Lori, then this film succeeds. Later, in an argument, Doug walks away from Lori for a second time, which further kills any kind of romance between the two. This might be fine, if the film did a better job with the comedy. There's some comedy to be mined from the two of them trying to perpetuate their lie, but the film doesn't do enough to mine that comedy. In many ways, the film has it as a gimmick that it basically wastes. The film comes up with a set-piece called Paul Bunyan Day, which is just a series of drinking games. It's amusing but it does nothing to inform us too much about the characters and why they came together or much of why they're splitting apart.
The crux of the matter is why did Lori vomit at the prospect of marrying Doug and why she avoided the question. Essentially, it seems as if Lori simply doesn't believe in the institution of marriage. Unfortunately, there's no deeper exploration or explanation of her resistance or reticence to get married. She says that she's happy with her relationship with Doug as it is. She might believe she's committed to Doug but doesn't need the government or even religious institution, but there's no real delving into why she might believe that or not. Conversely, Doug seems to need that institution to prove his love or relationship and he's not challenged in that regard. It makes sense that no one at a wedding party would challenge him, but Lori could have challenged him. Yet, the film doesn't give her the gumption or fortitude to really push back against his ideology.
I would've preferred learning more about Lori's ideology. She feels resistant to getting married. She claims to love Doug. She seems to be willing to marry him, if it'll assuage him. Doug doesn't seem to want to be assuaged or have her marry him out of pity or if it's not what she truly wants. Yet, the point is never made clear, if what she truly wants is not to marry Doug or not marry anyone at all, and that's a problem for this film's emotional core, which ultimately is lacking here.
Not Rated but for ages 14 and Up.
Running Time: 1 hr. and 21 mins.
Available on Hulu.
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