Netflix
Kumail Nanjiani teams with Issa Rae and re-teams with his The Big Sick director for a madcap black comedy, now streaming on a Netflix near you.
The Lovebirds is one of the many cinematic casualties of the coronavirus pandemic. The film was set for a cinema release last month, but things being as they are, Paramount decided to sell the film to Netflix. From seeing the film itself, Netflix seems a good home for it, as it is not too far away from the types of comedies the streamer has been producing themselves, and that’s not necessarily a compliment
The plot follows Jibran (Nanjiani) and Leilani (Rae), a couple on the brink of a break-up after seeing each other for four years. That discussion will have to wait as a car accident sees them become unwittingly embroiled in a murder mystery that only becomes more bizarre the deeper they look into it.
The Lovebirds is not dissimilar in premise or approach to humour as the likes of Date Night and Netflix’s own Murder Mystery. All three films involve a couple going through a rough patch and who are thrown into a situation where they’re in way over their heads, with much of the comedic beats and action set pieces getting mileage out of their fish out of water, normal couples struggling to keep up. Where The Lovebirds differs is in the flavour that comedy takes. Both Date Night and Murder Mystery go for bigger action, more slapstick and a goofier sense of tone. The Lovebirds gets a bit weird with it.
There is a very dark streak running through the film, from the pretty brutal murder that kicks it all off, to its Eyes Wide Shut-esque conspiracy. While it’s initially refreshing to see the film adding a bit of edge to this kind of high concept relationship comedy, it unfortunately isn’t that consistent. The story ends up going for diversions that struggle to be either that funny or that wickedly macabre, despite a promising start. These diversions, including scenes like being tied up in a horse stable to breaking into an apartment full of frat boys, don’t offer much in the way of anything all that funny or shocking, leaving the film treading water right in at the points where it should be drawing more into the mystery, a mystery which proves to be pretty predictable and a little unimaginative.
What keeps The Lovebirds in the air is the pairing of Nanjiani and Rae. While the material does let them down a considerable degree, and there’s the odd sense that some scenes rely a little too much on them riffing off each other, they’re both very good at portraying the silent panic and wide-eyed disbelief at everything that’s happening around them required to land the beats. They’re fun to hang with, even if the chemistry doesn’t always convince you that this couple should be much more than friends come adventure’s end.
There are some decent gags along the way in The Lovebirds, particularly moments involving their hesitation to go to the police and how that thread pays off has a simple but funny subversion to it. That said though, a lot of the gags are fairly forgettable, and don’t do a lot to compensate for what ends up being a pretty by-the-numbers murder mystery comedy. There’s certainly promise, as seen in the shades of a darker personality that occasionally make this film pop. But, ultimately, it does feel like a disappointment when you see how talented its two stars are, and what the last pairing between Nanjiani and Showalter produced. It may have originally had a cinema release, and it may be a little better than some Netflix original comedies, but The Lovebirds unfortunately doesn’t make good enough on its potential to truly stand apart from the pack.
The Lovebirds is now streaming on Netflix.
