TMS Movie Review: Love Again

(Sony Pictures)

Because nostalgia is easy bait for sentimentalism, most modern, lower tier studio romantic comedies will lean into tropes from popular 1990s romcoms people still enjoy. Jim Strouse’s Love Again is not only transparent of this; but feels like it’s made by someone who specifically loves Richard Curtis’ British romcoms a la Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994), Notting Hill (1999) and Love Actually (2003). The male lead of Love Again is a Scotsman (Sam Heughan), the female lead is an Indian woman (Priyanka Chopra), and most of the supporting cast are actors from the UK, though playing Americans in Manhattan for some reason. The plot of the new romcom is actually more akin to a Nora Ephron flick like Sleepless in Seattle (1993) or You’ve Got Mail (1998) though, mixing tragedy with dramedy.

Chopra’s Mira Ray is a successful children’s book illustrator who witnesses the death of her boyfriend/almost fiancé during a cute lunch date. After grieving for two years, Mira’s sister Suzy (Sofia Barclay) insists she needs something new and healthy in her life. Suzy suggests joining a dating app, while Mira opts for sending personal texts to her fiancé’s old phone number, which is now conveniently connected to Rob Burns’ (Heughan) new work phone. Rob takes fascination with the mysterious texts he’s receiving as he deals with his own break-up and struggling career as a music journalist.

(Sony Pictures)

Chopra’s real life husband Nick Jonas appears as a blind date Mira meets up with, while Celia Imrie, Lydia West, Russell Tovey and Steve Oram fill out the rest of the cast. Céline Dion not only has a borderline supporting role as herself in the movie, but a whole edit of concert footage plays over the end credits. Unfortunately, Love Again struggles to catch the attention of every Notting Hill and Sleepless fan out there. Heughan is attractive enough, but lacks the charm and amazing hair of ‘90s romcom star Hugh Grant. While Chopra is decent enough as the second protagonist, she’s also wasted with romantic schlock. Barclay is a memorable scene stealer, and if anything, it’s amusing how much time the movie spends blatantly incorporating Dion’s presence. But for the most part, Love Again is just another case of an inferior movie making you want to revisit the more famous, better inspirations.