Love, Repeat

So, like any genuine New Yorker, I go into a film that's touting NYC with a certain amount of skepticism. Especially a rom com. I was about half way in and so far it was sweet and quirky and well done, and the city shots were admittedly pretty gorgeous, and then.......BOOM. They had me. All of a sudden I'm tearing up and I'm missing the people I love and seriously invested in these characters working it all out. Maybe it's wandering NYC in the snow, or good old fashioned story telling. Whatever it is, thanks for the cry and I'll be adding this film to my "guilty pleasures" list.

Wow this movie is just bad. If it wasn't for the beautiful Manhattan scenes it would be a zero and I would have shut this down. Seriously it kept me in this terrible story. The acting or directing is just bad. Can't tell who is at fault. It is a poor immitation of a kdrama / wannabe Woody Allen classics.

There are a few surprises in this film. If you are looking for a formulaic romantic comedy, you won't find it here. This film defies classification, not fitting neatly into one category. For one thing, most romcoms follow the same basic formula, starting with a "meet-cute" and following the general outline of boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl. At the beginning of Love, Repeat, the main characters, James and Barbara, are divorced. James has never stopped loving Barbara, and even though his friends advise him to move on and even arrange some blind dates for him, he cannot imagine his life without her. Although there are some funny moments, including a very funny montage featuring his best friend's attempts to give James a makeover, there are also some poignant moments of stark emotion. You find yourself genuinely caring about the characters and hoping for a happy resolution. The film features a large cast of refreshingly diverse characters, including extended family, friends and neighbors, some of them rather quirky. Set in New York City in the wintertime, the film is gorgeously shot with breathtaking scenes of Central Park and snowy city streets which will make you long to be there yourself. The score is jazzy and sophisticated and really adds to the impact of the story. This is a perfect film to watch, cuddled up with a cozy blanket and someone you love.

For anyone who has been bewildered by the end of a relationship, and wondered whether they could have saved it, this is a hopeful and sweet movie about the difficulty of changing yourself and the reward of a second chance at love. The scenes of New York are gorgeous, the characters complex and sometimes confused (in other words, realistic), the friends and family quirky (whose aren't?), and the cast diverse (Finally, a movie that reflects the actual population of New York!).

This film is a charming, understated love story. The characters seem like really New York people. The scenes of New York are probably as beautiful as I have ever seen in a film. If you want to escape and remember life as it was before the pandemic, treat yourself and watch" Love, Repeat".