Film Review: Love, Guaranteed Is A Throwback Rom-Com
Watching Love, Guaranteed warped me back into the days of Jennifer Lopez’s The Wedding Planner and Julia Roberts’ My Best Friend’s Wedding. I ADORE 90s and 80s’ romantic comedies because they were so simple. The only complications were the characters, and every mishap simply led them closer to finding the love of their life. In a way, those classic rom-coms made love feel guaranteed or, at least, that happiness was always the end destination. Netflix’s Love, Guaranteed, out September 4, does the exact same and I am SO HERE FOR IT!
With a 90s’ rom-com queen at the helm, the adorably quirky Rachel Leigh Cook, audiences are immediately drawn to the sweet Susan. She is a lawyer that actually believes in social justice and loves facing off against powerful, corrupt businesses. She is also a complete nerd. In essence, she is all of us, and when she takes Nick’s case against the dating website, Love, Guaranteed, she becomes our heroine: strong, determined, and walking into one awkward misadventure after another. (I told you this was so 90s)
Love, Guaranteed | Official Film Trailer | Netflix
Damian Wayans Jr. plays Nick, and totally revamps the heart of the leading man. Sometimes, I don’t think we know, as a society, how to write or portray a couple, especially if the film is centered on one of its members more than the other. We have the tendency to construct the story to tilt its favor for one over the other. This movie is clearly Cook’s film and Susan is the center of it, but Wayans makes Nick so charismatic and kind that you fall for him, as well. Damian Wayans Jr. feels like the “Noah Centineo” of Netflix’s adult rom-coms; instead of falling for boys in highchool, we have now moved up to falling for men in legal battles.
Yes, Cook’s Susan and Wayans’ Nick fall in love, WHICH WE KNEW, but this is again, a 90s rom-com, and there has to be a clause or contractual stipulation that tries to pause their love story. Will they conquer it? OF COURSE! This is a love story where love is not only guaranteed, but it wins, which is why the film is a standout amongst Netflix’s current, amazing roster. The streaming platform is untouchable with its content, particularly its romances. Yet, what makes Love, Guaranteed so special is that it is effortlessly cheery in a time when people are really struggling to find their cheer. I gulped that film up like warm cocoa in a winter storm, which is how many will feel after being stuck by its charm and fun.
