The Lovebirds review: Najiani and Rae have killer chemistry

The Lovebirds is a solid comedy elevated by the chemistry (and comedy chops) between its two leads: Kumail Nanjiani and Issa Rae.

One of the many theatrical releases quickly shot down by COVID-19, The Lovebirds was released under somewhat unique circumstances. Instead of going straight to VOD for a premium like Trolls: World Tour or Emma, The Lovebirds somehow found its way to Netflix, offering users a fun, if a little uninventive, hour or two away from reality.

Starring Kumail Nanjiani and Issa Rae as the titular lovebirds, the film follows a recently broken-up couple who find themselves thrown into the center of a murder mystery when a man hijacks their car and uses it to kill someone in broad daylight.

Instead of using critical thinking or making a rational decision — like, say, going to the police — the duo decides to instead flee from the scene of the crime and find out who’s behind the killing by falling into clue after lucky clue.

While the premise is uninventive and a little eye-roll-inducing, the real draw is the film’s leads: Nanjiani and Rae. Both are powerhouse comedians on their own (both of whom have also begun branching into other genres: Rae toward romance in The Photograph, and Nanjiani toward blockbuster action in Marvel’s upcoming Eternals), but together their comedy is even more potent.

The film as a whole is reliant on the fact that the duo have chemistry of both the romantic and comedic variety, and luckily for this movie, they do in spades. The first 10 minutes genuinely do feel like they could’ve been plucked out of a romance film. Nanjiani and Rae commit 100 percent, and there are more than a few sparks between the two of them.

However, once the ball gets rolling, The Lovebirds takes a sharp left turn from rom-com to action/comedy/breakup/reunion movie, which is entirely inoffensive but not particularly groundbreaking. Because the film establishes such a low-stakes universe initially, when things begin to spiral out of control, it doesn’t feel like a fun, zany adventure so much as it does a “meh” comedy.

The movie’s comedic side works to the disadvantage of the plot as a whole. Much of the film’s tension is reliant on making the viewer believe that the duo is truly in life-or-death scenarios, but there’s virtually no suspension of disbelief because the audience knows it’s a comedy and the characters won’t die.

That isn’t to say that the comedy is bad. The jokes are solid, and undeniably at their best when Rae and Nanjiani are riffing off of each other as opposed to the observational or situational humor. However, even some solid laughs still can’t help distract us from the fact that The Lovebirds feels like a wannabe, lower-budget version of The Hangover.

While it isn’t bad, per-se, The Lovebirds is nothing to write home about. Nanjiani and Rae are the film’s saving graces and certainly do quite a bit to keep us entertained, but in the end, the film’s clashing genres rob it of any real stakes and make for a lackluster viewing experience.

What did you think of The Lovebirds? What’s your favorite romantic comedy? Sound off in the comments below.