Love/Hate (2011) Reviews

• Surprisingly interesting and more or less gender impartial bang for the buck.

  andell2012-05-05

  This film, about three guys who are best friends and at different stages of their romantic lives, was surprisingly interesting and different from the old cliché Hollywood formula. For starters, I can't remember seeing a more gender impartial take on the challenge of relationships where blame doesn't get tossed on the man so inevitably. In that sense, the film seems more real, exploring the way men and women co-exist together, and finding that both could use some tact and common sense at times, and how each does things that are just immoral at other times. Of course the film was made on a $40,000 budget, so much as it is superior from a subject matter sense from most Hollywood films, it has to be noted that there is considerable trade off. For instance, the acting is pretty rough at times, and the pairings are also a pretty unusual. At times as I was watching, I found myself cringing at just how dead pan or cheesy some of the acting was, and although I'd not go as far as to say that none of the actors in this film should give up on acting...I think they do need a lot more acting lessons to be successful. In addition the settings are at times bizarre. In one example, one of the boyfriends turns up in the living room of his girlfriend. You'd also think he teleported, but this is not that kind of film. I suspect that they were probably reusing the same home, and had to avoid using the front door or back door unless it became obvious to the audience that it was all the same home. If you can excuse the acting and setting, and focus on the film's message, and some of the light hearted moments, you may well enjoy the film. For my own part, I found it more interesting than similar big budget Hollywood fare like "The Break-Up," but it's not a film I'm going to add to my DVD collection or anything.

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