''Love Hard'' is a 2021 American

romantic comedy Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a subgenre of comedy and slice of life fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount most obstacles. In a typica ...

film directed by

Hernán Jiménez Hernán Jiménez (born 1980)Matthew Aho"El Regreso,"''Americas Quarterly'', Fall 2011. is a Costa Rican film director, screenwriter, actor and stand-up comedian. Early life and education Jiménez was born in San José, Costa Rica.Nina Dobrev Nikolina Kamenova Dobreva ( bg, Николина Каменова Добрева, ; born January 9, 1989), credited professionally as Nina Dobrev ( ), is a Canadian actress. She is best known for portraying Elena Gilbert and Katherine Pierce on ...

, Jimmy O. Yang and

Darren Barnet Darren Charles Barnet (born April 27, 1991) is an American actor. He is known for playing Paxton Hall-Yoshida in the Netflix series ''Never Have I Ever''. Early life and education Darren Charles Barnet was born on April 27, 1991, in Los Angele ...

, it is about a young woman who travels to her

online In computer technology and telecommunications, online indicates a state of connectivity and offline indicates a disconnected state. In modern terminology, this usually refers to an Internet connection, but (especially when expressed "on line" or ...

crush's hometown for

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus, Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by country, around t ...

but discovers she's been

catfished Catfishing is a deceptive activity in which a person creates a Sockpuppet (Internet), fictional persona or Privacy concerns with social networking services, fake identity on a social networking service, usually targeting a specific victim. The ...

. It was produced by

Wonderland Sound and Vision Wonderland Sound and Vision is an American production company founded by director and producer Joseph McGinty Nichol in 2001. It independently develops, produces and finances its own slate of feature films, television and digital projects. The co ...

and filmed 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 ...

from October to November 2020. It released by

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

on November 5, 2021. The title is a portmanteau of ''

Love Actually ''Love Actually'' is a 2003 Christmas romantic comedy film written and directed by Richard Curtis. It features an ensemble cast, composed predominantly of British actors, many of whom had worked with Curtis in previous film and television proje ...

'' and ''

Die Hard ''Die Hard'' is a 1988 American action film directed by John McTiernan, with a screenplay by Jeb Stuart and Steven E. de Souza. Based on the 1979 novel '' Nothing Lasts Forever'', by Roderick Thorp, it stars Bruce Willis, Alan Rickman, Ale ...

'', the respective favorite Christmas films of main characters Josh and Natalie.

Plot

Natalie Bauer is a

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

-based dating column writer who documents her disastrous dates she meets via a

dating app An online dating application is an online dating service presented through a mobile phone application (app), often taking advantage of a smartphone's GPS location capabilities, always on-hand presence, easy access to digital photo galleries and ...

. After deciding to expand the app's search radius, Natalie matches with a man named Josh Lin and forms a strong connection to him through many long phone calls. She decides to travel to his hometown in

Lake Placid, New York Lake Placid is a village in the Adirondack Mountains in Essex County, New York, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 2,303. The village of Lake Placid is near the center of the town of North Elba, southwest of Plattsburgh. ...

to surprise him for Christmas, promising her boss this will be the end to her dating disasters. However, she soon discovers that she has been

by Josh, who used another man's pictures. Natalie is angry, but learns that the man whose pictures Josh used, Tag Abbott, is Josh's childhood friend who lives in the same town. Josh offers to set them up if she pretends to be his girlfriend for the holidays, and Natalie agrees to stay with the Lin family. Josh sets Tag up to meet Natalie and introduces her as his cousin. Natalie lies about her interest in

Henry David Thoreau Henry David Thoreau (July 12, 1817May 6, 1862) was an American naturalist, essayist, poet, and philosopher. A leading Transcendentalism, transcendentalist, he is best known for his book ''Walden'', a reflection upon simple living in natural su ...

and

rock climbing Rock climbing is a sport in which participants climb up, across, or down natural rock formations. The goal is to reach the summit of a formation or the endpoint of a usually pre-defined route without falling. Rock climbing is a physically and ...

to impress Tag. Tag invites her to climb at a climbing gym, where she hides her fear of heights from Tag and Josh helps her down. Tag invites Natalie on more dates. Natalie meets Josh's brother Owen, the more successful sibling who constantly demands the Lin family's attention. When Natalie and Josh receive praise for their duet of "

Baby, It's Cold Outside "Baby, It's Cold Outside" is a popular song written by Frank Loesser in 1944 and popularized in the 1949 film '' Neptune's Daughter''. While the lyrics make no mention of a holiday, it is commonly regarded as a Christmas song owing to its winter ...

" during

Christmas carol A Christmas carol is a carol (a song or hymn) on the theme of Christmas, traditionally sung at Christmas itself or during the surrounding Christmas holiday season. The term noel has sometimes been used, especially for carols of French ori ...

ing, Owen becomes jealous and announces his and his wife's pregnancy. To steal the spotlight back, Josh proposes to Natalie on the spot, to which she feels pressured to say yes. Josh reassures Natalie that he will tell his family they did not work out after the holidays. Natalie learns of Josh's

candle-making Candle making was developed independently in many places throughout history. Dipped candles made from tallow were made by the Romans beginning about 1000 BCE. Evidence for candles made from whale fat in China dates back to the Qin Dynasty (221� ...

hobby, which he started to remember the scent of his grandfather after he died. She encourages him to make a business out of it. Josh and Natalie's engagement announcement is printed in the local newspaper, prompting the two to spend the early morning picking up all the papers across town so Tag does not see the news. Natalie goes through Josh's real dating app profile and tells him to have more self-confidence and use pictures that better highlight his strengths. When vegetarian Natalie prepares to eat at a steakhouse on a date with Tag, Josh bitterly tells Natalie she should not lie or compromise her beliefs for Tag. They fight when Natalie reminds him of his lie. While Natalie and Tag leave dinner, Tag admits that he stopped celebrating Christmas a long time ago. Natalie realizes that Tag is not the man that she thought he was, and Tag kisses her. The next morning, the two offer a Q&A session about online dating to residents of a nursing home at the behest of Josh's grandmother. The session quickly spirals into chaos when many of the resident attendees become interested in presenting false or misleading information about their disabilities and insecurities in order to attract potential partners. Josh offers a brilliant monologue about truth and honesty, reminding the residents to be true to themselves. During this monologue, he appears to recognize his own feelings for Natalie, and Natalie, taken aback by the honest and poignant moment, seems to recognize developing feelings as well. The residents disregard this and stop paying attention to Josh and Natalie, going on with their own lives. Josh appears distraught but has also recognized his feelings, and a need to be honest and forthcoming with Natalie and others, even despite his own insecurities. The Lin family throws Josh and Natalie a surprise engagement party at the steakhouse that Tag's family owns. Tag introduces Natalie to his parents as his girlfriend. Natalie's boss arrives and tells Owen about Natalie's dating column. Owen tells Josh that Natalie is just with him for her next story. Natalie gives a speech telling the truth to everyone at the party, including Tag, and then leaves the Lin household. Encouraged by Natalie, Josh tells his father that he no longer wants to run the family store and wishes to start a candle business. Waiting at the lodge overnight before her morning flight, Natalie sees Josh's new profile on the dating app, which highlights the real him. She realizes she is in love with Josh and returns to his house, where they share a kiss.

Cast

Nina Dobrev Nikolina Kamenova Dobreva ( bg, Николина Каменова Добрева, ; born January 9, 1989), credited professionally as Nina Dobrev ( ), is a Canadian actress. She is best known for portraying Elena Gilbert and Katherine Pierce on ...

as Natalie Bauer * Jimmy O. Yang as Josh Lin *

as Tag *

Harry Shum Jr. Harry Shum Jr. (born April 28, 1982) is an American actor, dancer, choreographer, and singer. He is best known for his roles as Mike Chang on the Fox television series ''Glee'' (2009–15), Benson Kwan on the ABC television series ''Grey's Anato ...

as Owen Lin * Althea Kaye as Grandma June Lin *

James Saito James Tomio Saito (born March 6, 1955) is a Japanese-American actor of stage, motion pictures, and television. Saito is best known as the original Shredder in ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'', Dr. Chen in the ABC series ''Eli Stone'', Harry Kim i ...

as Bob Lin *

Rebecca Staab Rebecca Ann Staab is an American actress. Early life Staab won the Miss Nebraska USA title and competed in the Miss USA 1980 pageant that year, where she placed in the Top 12. Acting career Before becoming an actress, Staab was a model fo ...

as Barb Lin * Matty Finochio as Lee * Heather McMahan as Kerry *

Mikaela Hoover Mikaela Hoover (born July 12, 1984) is an American actress of Iranian and Italian descent. Early life and education Mikaela was born and raised in Colbert, Washington. She started taking dance classes at the age of two and starred in school pla ...

as Chelsea Lin * Sean Depner as Chip

Production

In August 2019,

announced that it had acquired Danny Mackey's and Rebecca Ewing's romantic comedy

spec script A spec script, also known as a speculative screenplay, is a non-commissioned and unsolicited screenplay. It is usually written by a screenwriter who hopes to have the script optioned and eventually purchased by a producer, production company, or ...

''Love Hard'', which was described as "''

When Harry Met Sally ''When Harry Met Sally...'' is a 1989 American romantic comedy-drama film written by Nora Ephron and directed by Rob Reiner. It stars Billy Crystal as Harry and Meg Ryan as Sally. The story follows the title characters from the time they m ...

'' meets '' Roxanne''".

McG The Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), also known locally as "The 'G", is an Australian sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne, Victoria. Founded and managed by the Melbourne Cricket Club, it is the largest stadium in the Southern Hem ...

and Mary Viola were set to produce the film through their company

. In August 2020, it was announced that

, Jimmy O. Yang and Charles Melton would star. In October 2020, it was announced that due to Melton's schedule conflicts with the TV series '' Riverdale'', he had been replaced by

and Heather McMahan were also added to the cast. Filming took place in

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

, Canada from October 9 to November 21, 2020. The Lin home is located in

New Westminster, British Columbia New Westminster (colloquially known as New West) is a city in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, Canada, and a member municipality of the Metro Vancouver Regional District. It was founded by Major-General Richard Moody as the capita ...

, and Boundary Bay Airport stood in for

Lake Placid Airport Lake Placid Airport is a public use airport located one nautical mile (1.85 km) southeast of the central business district of Lake Placid, a village in the Town of North Elba, Essex County, New York, United States. It is owned by the North Elb ...

Reception

The film was released on November 5 and was number one in audience popularity on Netflix in 87 countries by November 7, 2021. On

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American 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, and Stephen Wang ...

, the film holds an approval rating of based on reviews, with an average rating of . The website's critics consensus reads, "''Love Hard''s interesting setup and charming cast have a definite rom-com appeal, even if the story never quite develops its main characters' love connection." On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

, the film has a weighted average score of 42 out of 100, based on eight critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".

References

External links