The Lovebirds (2020 film)
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''The Lovebirds'' is a 2020 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
Michael Showalter Michael Showalter (born June 17, 1970) is an American comedian, actor, director, writer, and producer. He first came to recognition as a cast member on MTV's ''The State'', which aired from 1993 to 1995. He and David Wain created the ''Wet Hot ...
from a screenplay by Aaron Abrams and Brendan Gall, and a story by Abrams, Gall, and
Martin Gero Martin Gero (born July 6, 1977 in Geneva, Switzerland) is a Canadian screenwriter and co- executive producer for ''Stargate Atlantis'' and the creator of '' Blindspot''. Born in Switzerland, Gero spent much of his childhood in Ottawa, Ontar ...
. The film stars Issa Rae and
Kumail Nanjiani Kumail Ali Nanjiani (; ur, کمیل علی ننجیانی, ; born May 2, 1978) is a Pakistani-American actor, comedian and screenwriter. He is known for his role as Dinesh in the HBO comedy series ''Silicon Valley'' (2014–2019) and for co-wr ...
, as well as
Paul Sparks Paul Sparks (born October 16, 1971) is an American actor. He is known for his roles as gangster Mickey Doyle in the HBO period drama series ''Boardwalk Empire'', writer Thomas Yates in the Netflix political drama series '' House of Cards'', m ...
,
Anna Camp Anna Ragsdale Camp (born September 27, 1982) is an American actress and singer. She is best known for her roles as the villainous Sarah Newlin in the HBO vampire drama ''True Blood'' (2009, 2013–2014) and Aubrey Posen in the musical comedy '' ...
, and
Kyle Bornheimer Kyle Edward Bornheimer (born September 10, 1975) is an American actor and comedian known for his roles on the sitcoms '' Worst Week'', ''Brooklyn Nine-Nine'', '' Casual'', and '' Playing House''. Life and career Bornheimer was born in Mishawaka ...
, and follows a couple who goes on the run after witnessing a murder. Originally scheduled to be a theatrical release by Paramount Pictures on April 3, 2020, the film was removed from the release schedule due to the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...
closing theaters worldwide. Its rights were then sold to
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 fi ...
, which released the film digitally on May 22, 2020. The film received mixed reviews from critics, although Rae and Nanjiani's performances were praised.


Plot

Jibran and Leilani are a couple who have been together for four years. Their relationship is fraught, and the two argue constantly about a variety of topics. While driving to a dinner party, the two mutually agree to end the relationship. Distracted by the breakup, Jibran runs a red light, hitting a cyclist with their car. The man refuses help and flees the scene. A man with a mustache suddenly commandeers their car, claiming to be a police officer and that the man on the bike is a criminal. He pursues the cyclist, but after catching him runs the cyclist over with their car several times, killing him. Mustache prepares to kill Jibran and Leilani with a gun but flees after hearing police sirens. Jibran and Leilani then flee the scene themselves. Jibran wants them to turn themselves in, but Leilani argues that their unbelievable story and
racial profiling Racial profiling or ethnic profiling is the act of suspecting, targeting or discriminating against a person on the basis of their ethnicity, religion or nationality, rather than on individual suspicion or available evidence. Racial profiling involv ...
will ensure they are blamed for the crime. Having taken the dead bicyclist's phone, they see he had planned a meeting at a bar with a woman named Edie. Leilani reasons that Edie will know who the man is, which will allow them to find out who the killer is and clear their names. The two meet Edie at the bar, only to find that it is a setup; the two are knocked out and tied up by Edie and her husband Brett. Edie mistakenly believes that Jibran and Leilani work for Bicycle, and alludes to blackmail being committed against Edie and Brett. As Edie prepares to torture Leilani, the pair manage to escape. The two travel to an address taken from Edie which they believe is Bicycle's home, only to find an apartment full of frat boys. They overpower and interrogate one of the boys, who admits he works for Bicycle as part of his blackmailing scheme. Before the two can learn more, Mustache arrives, killing all the boys in the apartment. Jibran and Leilani escape with one of the blackmail envelopes, which contains photos of the intended recipients attending what appears to be a meeting of a secret society. They travel to the dinner party they were originally supposed to attend, tricking Leilani's co-worker Keith into unlocking Bicycle's phone, which contains an address to a black tie event. Leilani and Jibran travel to the event, where all the attendees are wearing masks identical to those shown in the blackmail photos. The meeting turns into an
orgy In modern usage, an orgy is a sex party consisting of at least five members where guests freely engage in open and unrestrained sexual activity or group sex. Swingers' parties do not always conform to this designation, because at many swin ...
, but is interrupted when the leader of the meeting discovers that there are impostors present. He tricks Jibran and Leilani into revealing themselves, but moments later an alarm sounds due to a police raid; Jibran and Leilani are taken into police custody. The two meet with Detective Martin, who reveals that Bicycle's pursuit and murder were caught on traffic cameras, and the two were being sought as witnesses, not suspects. The police were aware of the secret gathering and planned to shut them down, but the group was somehow tipped off to the plan. Jibran and Leilani are being driven home, but their driver is revealed to be Mustache, who truly is a police officer, but is also paid by the society to shield them from law enforcement. Mustache also ran the blackmailing scheme with Bicycle, who was killed due to a dispute over payment. Mustache restrains Jibran and Leilani and prepares to kill them, but the three get into a struggle, and Leilani manages to shoot Mustache, who is then taken into custody. Jibran and Leilani make amends and kiss. One year later, Jibran and Leilani participate in ''
The Amazing Race ''The Amazing Race'' is an adventure reality game show franchise in which teams of two people race around the world in competition with other teams. The ''Race'' is split into legs, with teams tasked to deduce clues, navigate themselves in forei ...
'', which tests their relationship once again.


Cast

*
Kumail Nanjiani Kumail Ali Nanjiani (; ur, کمیل علی ننجیانی, ; born May 2, 1978) is a Pakistani-American actor, comedian and screenwriter. He is known for his role as Dinesh in the HBO comedy series ''Silicon Valley'' (2014–2019) and for co-wr ...
as Jibran * Issa Rae as Leilani Brooks *
Anna Camp Anna Ragsdale Camp (born September 27, 1982) is an American actress and singer. She is best known for her roles as the villainous Sarah Newlin in the HBO vampire drama ''True Blood'' (2009, 2013–2014) and Aubrey Posen in the musical comedy '' ...
as Edie *
Paul Sparks Paul Sparks (born October 16, 1971) is an American actor. He is known for his roles as gangster Mickey Doyle in the HBO period drama series ''Boardwalk Empire'', writer Thomas Yates in the Netflix political drama series '' House of Cards'', m ...
as Mustache *
Kyle Bornheimer Kyle Edward Bornheimer (born September 10, 1975) is an American actor and comedian known for his roles on the sitcoms '' Worst Week'', ''Brooklyn Nine-Nine'', '' Casual'', and '' Playing House''. Life and career Bornheimer was born in Mishawaka ...
as Brett * Andrene Ward-Hammond as Detective Martin *
Moses Storm Moses Jacob Storm (born May 6, 1990 in Kalamazoo, Michigan, United States) is an American writer, actor, and comedian, who has appeared in film, television and radio. Early life Moses Storm was born in Kalamazoo, Michigan, as one of five child ...
as Steve * Mahdi Cocci as Keith * Narendra Singh Dhami as Nimesh * Nicholas X. Parsons as Tom "Bicycle" * Barry Rothbart as Mr. Hipster * Catherine Cohen as Mrs. Hipster *
Phil Keoghan Philip John Keoghan ( ; born 31 May 1967) is a New Zealand television personality, best known for hosting the The Amazing Race (American TV series), American version of ''The Amazing Race'' on CBS, since its 2001 debut. He is the creator and h ...
as Himself (voice)


Production

In January 2019, it was announced
Kumail Nanjiani Kumail Ali Nanjiani (; ur, کمیل علی ننجیانی, ; born May 2, 1978) is a Pakistani-American actor, comedian and screenwriter. He is known for his role as Dinesh in the HBO comedy series ''Silicon Valley'' (2014–2019) and for co-wr ...
and Issa Rae were set to star in the film, with
Michael Showalter Michael Showalter (born June 17, 1970) is an American comedian, actor, director, writer, and producer. He first came to recognition as a cast member on MTV's ''The State'', which aired from 1993 to 1995. He and David Wain created the ''Wet Hot ...
directing from a screenplay by Aaron Abrams, Brendan Gall, and
Martin Gero Martin Gero (born July 6, 1977 in Geneva, Switzerland) is a Canadian screenwriter and co- executive producer for ''Stargate Atlantis'' and the creator of '' Blindspot''. Born in Switzerland, Gero spent much of his childhood in Ottawa, Ontar ...
. Abrams, Gall, and Gero served as producers, alongside Oly Obst, Todd Schulman, and Jordana Mollick, while Showalter, Nanjiani, and Rae executive produced.
Media Rights Capital MRC II Distribution Company L.P., doing business as MRC (formerly Media Rights Capital), is an American film and television studio. Founded by Mordecai (Modi) Wiczyk and Asif Satchu, the company funds and produces film and television programming. ...
produced and financed the film, while Paramount Pictures was set to distribute. Also in January,
Anna Camp Anna Ragsdale Camp (born September 27, 1982) is an American actress and singer. She is best known for her roles as the villainous Sarah Newlin in the HBO vampire drama ''True Blood'' (2009, 2013–2014) and Aubrey Posen in the musical comedy '' ...
joined the cast of the film.


Filming

Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as a ...
began on January 27, 2019 in
New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
. Production concluded on February 27, 2019. The official trailer incorporates a section of Ilaiyaraaja's “Oru kili” soundtrack composed for the movie '' Aanandha Kummi'' (1983) as background music.


Release

''The Lovebirds'' was scheduled to have its world premiere at South by Southwest on March 14, 2020 where Nanjiani, Rae and
Michael Showalter Michael Showalter (born June 17, 1970) is an American comedian, actor, director, writer, and producer. He first came to recognition as a cast member on MTV's ''The State'', which aired from 1993 to 1995. He and David Wain created the ''Wet Hot ...
were to appear, but they cancelled their appearances and the festival was cancelled due to the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...
. The film was also scheduled to be theatrically released by Paramount Pictures on April 3, 2020, but it was pulled from the schedule due to movie theater closures because of the pandemic restrictions. In late-March, it announced that the film had been bought 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 fi ...
, which released it digitally on its service on May 22, 2020. The film was the top-streamed item on the website its debut weekend, before falling to the fifth-most popular film in its second week. In November, ''
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), ...
'' reported the film was the 10th-most watched straight-to-streaming title of 2020 up to that point.


Reception

On
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 critical consensus reads: "If the breezily enjoyable ''The Lovebirds'' feels like a little less than the sum of its parts, it's still an enjoyable showcase for the talents of its well-matched stars." At
Metacritic Metacritic is a website that 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 average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...
, the film has a weighted average score of 59 out of 100, based on 34 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Writing for ''
Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...
'',
Peter Travers Peter Joseph Travers (born ) is an American film critic, journalist, and television presenter. He reviews films for ABC News and previously served as a movie critic for ''People'' and ''Rolling Stone''. Travers also hosts the film interview prog ...
gave the film 4 out of 5 stars, and wrote, "Issa Rae and Kumail Nanjiani generate big laughs and a sense of genuine connection as a New Orleans couple on the skids who find out what they really mean to each other when a bunch of psychos try to kill them." David Ehrlich of ''
IndieWire IndieWire (sometimes stylized as indieWIRE or Indiewire) is a film industry and review website that was established in 1996. The site's focus was predominantly independent film, although its coverage has grown to "to include all aspects of Holl ...
'' gave the film a "C−" grade, writing, "The truth is that ''The Lovebirds'' makes all too much sense on Netflix. Michael Showalter's follow-up to ''
The Big Sick ''The Big Sick'' is a 2017 American romantic comedy film directed by Michael Showalter and written by Emily V. Gordon and Kumail Nanjiani. It stars Nanjiani, Zoe Kazan, Holly Hunter, Ray Romano, Adeel Akhtar, and Anupam Kher. Gordon and Nanj ...
'' is as flat and algorithmic as his last rom-com was poignant and alive. The only thing the two films really have in common is a winning performance from Kumail Nanjiani." He also noted that "Rae refuses to quit on the movie even after there's no hope of redeeming it."


References


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lovebirds (2020 film), The 2020 films 2020s comedy mystery films 2020 romantic comedy films 3 Arts Entertainment films American comedy mystery films American romantic comedy films Films about interracial romance Films directed by Michael Showalter Films scored by Michael Andrews Films not released in theaters due to the COVID-19 pandemic Films set in New Orleans Films shot in New Orleans Media Rights Capital films Murder mystery films English-language Netflix original films Paramount Pictures films 2020s English-language films 2020s American films