''Love, Guaranteed'' is a 2020 American

romantic comedy Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a sub-genre of comedy and Romance novel, romance fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount all obstacles. Ro ...

film directed by

Mark Steven Johnson Mark Steven Johnson (born October 30, 1964) is an American filmmaker. Life and career Johnson began his career writing the Warner Bros. films ''Grumpy Old Men (film), Grumpy Old Men'' and its sequel ''Grumpier Old Men''. Johnson wrote and direc ...

and written by Elizabeth Hackett and Hilary Galanoy, starring

Rachael Leigh Cook Rachael Leigh Cook (born October 4, 1979) is an American actress and model. She has starred in the films ''The Baby-Sitters Club (film), The Baby-Sitters Club'' (1995), ''She's All That'' (1999), and ''Josie and the Pussycats (film), Josie and ...

and

Damon Wayans Jr. Damon Kyle Wayans Jr. (born November 18, 1982) is an American actor and comedian. He starred as Brad Williams in the ABC sitcom ''Happy Endings'', for which he was nominated for the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actor in ...

It was released on

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

on September 3, 2020.

Plot

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

, Susan is a mostly ''

pro bono ( English: 'for the public good'), usually shortened to , is a Latin phrase for professional work undertaken voluntarily and without payment. The term traditionally referred to provision of legal services by legal professionals for people who a ...

'' lawyer for Whitaker Associates who goes undercover to investigate the online dating website Love, Guaranteed. Her client Nick has had 986 dates through them with no luck finding love. The three dates she tries go decidedly wrong, and she also goes to secretly observe his 1000th date to make sure he's on the up and up. Susan and Nick attend a meeting with founder Tamara Taylor and her lawyers, who offer $100,000 to settle out of court, which they decline in lieu of a court date six weeks later. In preparation for their court appearance, Susan and Nick meet up to discuss their case, etc. and they start to show a mutual interest. One of the other lawyers, after seeing some photos of them taken by a

private investigator A private investigator (often abbreviated to PI; also known as a private detective, an inquiry agent or informally a wikt:private eye, private eye) is a person who can be hired by individuals or groups to undertake investigatory law services. ...

, call Susan to advise her that a developing relationship with Nick could be considered nullifying their argument, as their meeting was due to Love, Guaranteed. So, Susan chooses to spend the last two weeks before the court date avoiding him, to try to turn off their feelings. The day arrives, and Susan seems to be winning the case, cleverly managing to question the defense's prime witness, Nick's ex-fiancée and supermodel, Arianna, before the defense. However, in the five-minute recess, Nick goes after Arianna to thank her, and she makes him realize that he loves Susan. Nick returns to the courtroom, withdrawing his lawsuit on the grounds that he has fallen in love with his lawyer, who admits that she loves him too. Then they kiss passionately and make their relationship official. At the very end, Tamara Taylor offers to give them the money Nick asks for to open a pro bono physical therapy clinic in exchange for Susan and Nick being the image for Love, Guaranteed.

Cast

as Susan Whitaker, a struggling attorney *

as Nick Evans, Susan's well-heeled client * Caitlin Howden as Melanie, Susan's sister *

Jed Rees Jed Rees (born March 8, 1970) is a Canadian actor, best known for his roles in movies such as ''Galaxy Quest'' (1999), '' The Ringer'' (2005), ''Deadpool'' (2016), and '' American Made'' (2017). Early life Rees studied music for two years in co ...

as Bill Jones * Lisa Durupt as Denise, Susan's legal assistant * Sean Amsing as Roberto, Susan's other legal assistant * Brendan Taylor as Gideon, Melanie's husband and Susan's brother-in-law *

Alvin Sanders Alvin Sanders is an American-Canadian voice actor and voice director. He currently sits on the Union of BC Performers executive board. Filmography Animated Anime roles *''Dragon Ball Z'' – Mr Popo, Additional Voices (1996–1997) *''Hello Carb ...

as Jerome *

Kandyse McClure Candice McClure (born 22 March 1980), known professionally as Kandyse McClure, is a Canadian actress. She gained prominence through her roles in the Fox Family Channel, Fox Family series ''Higher Ground (TV series), Higher Ground'' (2000), the N ...

as Arianna, Nick's ex-fiancée from two years ago *

Heather Graham Heather Joan Graham (born January 29, 1970) is an American actress. The accolades she has received include nominations for two Screen Actors Guild Awards, a Critics' Choice Movie Award, and an Independent Spirit Award. After appearing in tel ...

as Tamara Taylor, the CEO of a dating site known as Love, Guaranteed * Quynh Mi as Rita Wu, the date who talked about cats all night * Kallie Hu as Micah * Milo Shandel as Dr. Rossmore * Sebastian Billingsley-Rodriguez as Oliver * Jason Burkart as Sparkletts Guy * Claire Hesselgrave as Pam

Production

The film, set in Seattle, was shot in

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

, Canada. Locations used include the

Gastown Gastown is the original settlement that became the core of the city of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, and a national historic site and a neighbourhood in the northwest section of the Downtown Eastside, adjacent to Downtown Vancouver. Its ...

neighborhood, the

Vancouver Art Gallery The Vancouver Art Gallery (VAG) is an art museum in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The museum occupies a adjacent to Robson Square in downtown Vancouver, making it the largest art museum in Western Canada by building size. Designed by Fr ...

, and

Stanley Park Stanley Park is a public park in British Columbia, Canada, that makes up the northwestern half of Vancouver's Downtown Vancouver, Downtown peninsula, surrounded by waters of Burrard Inlet and English Bay, Vancouver, English Bay. The park bor ...

. Rachael Leigh Cook produced and stars in the film. The idea came from the real-life lawsuit brought against

Molson Coors Molson Coors Beverage Company is a Canadian-American Multinational corporation, multinational Drink industry, drink and brewing company, brewing company headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. Molson Coors was formed in 2005 through the merger of Mo ...

who claimed in their advertising that their beer was brewed using "pure Rocky Mountain spring water." The lawsuit brought by Rachel Leigh Cook's character and her client in the film revolves around the unrealistic promises made by an online dating service. The film's original score was composed by

Ryan Shore Ryan Shore is a Canadian composer, songwriter, conductor, music producer, and music director for film, television, virtual reality, records, games, concerts, and theater. He is often known from his scores for ''Star Wars'', '' Scooby-Doo!'', ''E ...

Reception

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

, the film has an approval rating of based on reviews from critics, with an average rating of . On

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, the film has a weighted average score of 39 out of 100, based on 6 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable" reviews. Lisa Kennedy of ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' wrote: "If likability is a trait you value, ''Love, Guaranteed'' delivers the undemanding pleasure of watching two fundamentally decent people tumble into fondness and then love."

References

External links

* * {{Mark Steven Johnson 2020 films 2020 independent films 2020 romantic comedy films American legal films American independent films American romantic comedy films English-language romantic comedy films Netflix original films Films about online dating Films directed by Mark Steven Johnson Films set in Seattle Films shot in Vancouver Films scored by Ryan Shore Films about interracial romance 2020s English-language films 2020s American films Films produced by Stephanie Slack English-language independent films