{"id":20521,"date":"2020-05-21T13:03:53","date_gmt":"2020-05-21T20:03:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/?p=20521"},"modified":"2020-05-21T13:03:53","modified_gmt":"2020-05-21T20:03:53","slug":"the-lovebirds-dont-create-much-of-a-spark","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/?p=20521","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;t Fly in THE LOVEBIRDS"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/24_0006_C+-merged.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-7079\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><em>The Lovebirds<\/em> will be streaming on Netflix starting Friday, May 22<\/strong><sup><strong>nd<\/strong><\/sup><strong>. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In recent weeks, studios have been altering their release\nschedules and testing alternative methods of distribution. Many are now simply streaming\ntheir features online for $20 rental fees. Another picture, <em>The Lovebirds<\/em>,\nhas found an alternate way to make its public debut. The flick was slated for\nan early April theatrical release by Paramount Pictures. However, the studio chose\nto sell the picture to Netflix. It is now premiering on the streaming service\nthis Friday.&nbsp; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Lovebirds-elevator-1024x630.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-20522\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The film opens with Leilani (Issa Rae) and Jibram (Kumail\nNanjiani) meeting and falling deeply in love. A few years later that romance\nand enthusiasm has evaporated, with the couple bickering constantly and ready\nto end their relationship. But after heading out to attend a social engagement,\na series of strange events end up putting the estranged pair in the middle of a\nmystery. Leilani and Jibram decide to run from authorities to try and prove\ntheir innocence before they are charged with a crime they didn\u2019t commit. The\ntrail leads them across New Orleans, where they cross paths with bizarre\nfigures and eventually uncover a larger conspiracy.&nbsp;&nbsp; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Truthfully, one can see fairly quickly why Paramount decided\nto let go of this picture. Make no mistake, the stars are funny and talented. The\ndriving event that sets the main plot in motion is jarring and darkly humorous.\nSome of the arguments also result in a good offhanded comment or two,\nparticularly when documentary filmmaker Jibram complains about reality TV shows\nor his many pet peeves while the pair are pursued. There\u2019s also some fun to be\nhad when the couple are forced into purchasing loud dollar-store clothing in\norder to avoid detection. The filmmakers don\u2019t manage to maximize the potential\nhumor from their heroes actually standing out from the crowd when they are\ntrying to remain incognito, but the get-ups are amusingly silly. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Lovebirds-streetcar-1024x626.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-20524\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Still, while the leads manage to eke a few laughs out of the\nproceedings, the clunky script often leaves them floundering. The dialogue is a\nlittle blunt and obvious in explaining the plot. And the attempts to put the Leilani\nand Jibram in great danger results in a lot of jokes based around characters either\ngetting killed or being threatened with death (sometimes even by the heroes,\nalbeit awkwardly). The occasional physical gag works, but more of the attempts\nfall flat than hit the mark. At one point, Jibram suffers a painful injury, but\nseems perfectly fine only a handful of scenes later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Lovebirds-grilling-student-1024x608.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-20525\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Additionally, all of the characters make consistently bad\ndecisions throughout. This includes both the protagonists and police. These are\nthe kinds of choices that don\u2019t really gel with how any rational person would\nrespond to a given situation. Instead, these strange actions are only done to\nprovide a quick gag and keep the story moving forward. If this were a movie\nabout a pair of simpletons stumbling their way through a dangerous situation\nand succeeding by making the wrong choices, the approach might be humorous.\nHowever, the audience is supposed to feel empathy and relate to the\nprotagonists, as well as hope for a romantic reconciliation. The film never\nquite finds the right tone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While the cast are charming enough to deliver a few funny\ncomments, the humor is scattershot and the movie never quite finds the right\nbalance between slapstick gags and deeper empathy for its protagonists. There\nare a couple of chuckles here and there, but nothing that\u2019s particularly\nmemorable about this enterprise. <em>The Lovebirds<\/em> tries its best to create\na little onscreen magic, but in the end the sparks just don\u2019t fly. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Lovebirds will be streaming on Netflix starting Friday, May 22nd. In recent weeks, studios have been altering their release schedules and testing alternative methods of distribution. Many are now simply streaming their features online for $20 rental fees. Another picture, The Lovebirds, has found an alternate way to make its public debut. The flick [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":20523,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[198,4660,9995,11930,14680,14735,21452,21453,21454,21455],"class_list":["post-20521","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-movie-reviews","tag-198","tag-comedy","tag-issa-rae","tag-kumail-nanjiani","tag-netflix","tag-new-orleans","tag-the-lovebirds","tag-the-lovebirds-film-review","tag-the-lovebirds-movie-review","tag-the-lovebirds-review"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20521","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=20521"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20521\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=20521"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=20521"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=20521"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}