What Love Is

OK this is my first review and I have seen tons of movies. I found this movie to be so much more than I expected and a breath of fresh air from the usual movies I see. Maybe we could get more directors to do things that are creative and take a chance. because I am in introspect now is why I comment on this movie. It was a blast. A movie filmed like a theatrical play. Great stuff. The actors and the acting witty. I am a guy and I think this is how we men bond period when we hurt as well as when we celebrate. The women talk just like some of my girlfriends and all in all they are just like us guys. I would assume we all have friends in these characters. Its a fun ride to watch. See it.......!!!!!!!!!.

I don't believe that What Love Is was a play before it was shot as a movie, yet I found it reminiscent of some stage play-turned-films I've seen. The main reasons are that it takes place primarily in one room, the dialog is very fast-paced, and emotions are high from the first moment and rarely drops.

In this sense, it's not terribly original. What's more is that the small plot line is pretty predictable. However, where this movie shines is in it's advice and the characters' heartfelt monologues. Perhaps it my male bias, but the men's part far outshone and impressed me than the women's scene. Each of the characters reminded me of one of my friends and although it's unlikely these friends would say the things they did, it's something that they would actually believe. For example, Matthew Lilliard's homophobic rant is probably not something he'd say aloud, but you know he would think it. And the other characters react pretty well, continuing the dialog until they each have their turn to chime in with their thoughts on love, sex and women.

The second and third acts aren't as good as the first, but there were a few gems that really got me, especially the gay man's sex advice (it's 99.9% correct) and Judy Tylor's (the dumb girl) thoughts on what love really is.

So the characters were interesting, the dialog was funny, but mostly it was the gems of wisdom of the characters that really made me think, made me laugh and made me cheer.

What Love Is spins a great twist on the romantic comedy and turns the usual genre upside down on its head. Directed by Mars Callahan, this film has a great ensemble cast with stars, such as: Cuba Gooding Jr., Mathew Lillard, Sean Astin, Anne Heche, Andrew Daly, Gina Gershon, Tamala Jones, Jud Taylor, Shiri Appleby, Victoria Pratt and Terrance 'T.C.' Carson. The scenes in this film were great. It is a frank, unapologetic film that explains at its very core what Love truly means. Mathew Lillard was amazing as Sal, especially in the scene about monogamy, Sean Astin's character's diatribe about women is great, Andrew Daly's scenes with Mathew Lillard and Anne Heche are hilarious! It's a great Valentines Day movie for guys. I don't know how many times I remember having similar conversations with my friends about women just like these characters do in this film. The writing seems almost as if it were recorded. What Love Is is a laugh out loud, realistic riot that will keep you entertained and satisfied that you went to see what could be the best comedy of the year.

This is the movie to see if you want an idea of what love is from a guy's perspective!!! It was so funny, I highly recommend it to everyone. Awesome cast!!! Everyone was so cute. What love is, what love is, WHAT LOVE IS!!! YEAH!!! It's nice to see Cuba in this adorable role. My brother totally agrees with me that this is how guys think. It's so cute though to see that guys stress about this stuff too. The dialog was very well written. It's almost like the writer recorded the real conversations. I guess that's what love is. I'd love to see it again. The music was really good, too. I'm buying the soundtrack as soon as it comes out.

I have been curious about WHAT LOVE IS since 2019 because it stars some fine actors I follow and I love to give every movie a chance, including this that has 5,1. But when I saw it last January I could see why it has such a score.

Tom (Cuba Gooding jr) returns home the night before Valentine's Day only to find a letter outside the door and seeing his long term girlfriend leaving him. Soon Tom decides to invite his best friends Sal (Matthew Lillard), George (Sean Astin) and Ken (Mars Callahan, also the film's director) and spend most of the first half talking about women and their experiences. In the second part some women come and after a strip show they'll make our guys think like real men, and Tom will finally learn what love it (nice reference to the title).

At the beginning I was liking it but as it progressed it became so loud that I was even torn for the score to give when it was over. I especially disliked Lillard's character because he not only was loud, but said the crassest of things and the most absurd things (I can't even report them here because they'll violate IMDB standards). And towards the end it seemed confusing that Gooding' character had to learn what love is only after he is left by another woman with which he was trying during the evening.

Overall, a confusing mix of drama and comedy that certainly needed a re-write. Recommended only to fans of the stars of for folks with very low standards.