Movie Review ~ Love…Reconsidered

Am I a hopeless romantic for the romantic comedy genre? Similar to my ‘can’t say no’ attitude toward every shark or sea creature movie offered up, I find it difficult to pass on love stories that remind me of those enduring classics I was essentially raised on. Though dependably swoon-y screenwriters such as Douglas McGrath (Gwyneth Paltrow’s 1996 Emma) and Nora Ephron (pick your favorite Tom Hanks/Meg Ryan pairing) have sadly left us and the long gaps between the coziness of a Nancy Meyers cutesy comedy stretch further and further, audiences have had to look seriously into a next generation of voices for dreamy stories of lovers meeting.

I wish I were down on one knee with better news, then. Despite a stellar performance from Sophie von Haselberg (Bette Midler’s daughter, just in case you couldn’t tell), her new film Love…Reconsidered is an unfortunate misstep in the rom-com realm. Directed by Carol Ray Hartsell from a screenplay by Arielle Haller-Silverstone, the film collapses under its wispy plot, financial constraints, and tinkery direction, quickly finding itself adrift.  It’s a tale that meanders aimlessly, unfolding in a series of disconnected scenes within a plot that is neither compelling nor sensible. A half-hearted attempt to make it an ensemble dramedy will only leave you cross-eyed, attempting to make connections that don’t always align with ease.

Ruby (von Haselberg, Give Me Pity!) still lives at home with her parents (Simon Feil and an underused Judy Gold) and has just been fired from her latest job as a cater-waiter for mingling with the guests too much. You see, Ruby sees pounding the NYC pavement as a means to an end, and it’s all about the connections you make – so make them any way you can. Recently dumped by her younger boyfriend Noah (Jon Lemmon, Chemical Hearts) and getting nowhere through the regular channels for finding new prospects, she jumps at the opportunity to spend a summer in the Hamptons after a chance encounter with Golda, an older woman (Elaine Bromka, Uncle Buck) she barely knows.  Illustrative of how skimpy the production is, Ruby and Golda meet…somewhere.  Dave Carroll’s camera shoots them mostly from underneath, so they are either in the middle of a park or standing on the corner of a city street, catching the leafy side of a tree.

Golda has an empty storefront in a choice part of the summer town popular among the Real Housewives, celebrities, and the grossly rich. Sensing that Ruby could benefit from a change of pace, she offers a place to live (in an apartment adjacent to the shop) if she re-opens the store as a consignment shop.  The offer is barely made before Ruby drives upstate with a U-Haul holding years of Golda’s acquired items to be sold at the store. When she arrives, the apartment is otherwise occupied (at least according to the ferocious mating noises she hears), and she bizarrely winds up cohabitating within a disgusting camper owned by bo-hunk new roommate John (Luke Gulbranson).

Anecdotally, I know that Love…Reconsidered is inspired by Haller-Silverstone’s own experiences, and perhaps this very rom-com set-up was indeed non-fiction IRL, but in the context of the movie and its cinematic potential, it makes no sense why the first-time screenwriter would choose this route. Until this point, Ruby has been presented as a headstrong, confident individual, but suddenly, she stops sticking up for herself or using the resources at her disposal to fix a situation that starts to spin out of control rapidly. Undoubtedly the film’s silver lining, von Haselberg does what she can to add some pizzazz, but both director and screenwriter have far different plans for where their film is going.

After Ruby opens The Magic Closet (after endless days/scenes of stacking the same shoes on shelves and hanging familiar costume pieces on racks), the narrative briefly follows customers after they’ve left and gone on their merry way. Providing a glimpse inside the home life and, in one extremely awkward tangent, the bedroom of characters we have had no prior introduction to and will spend maybe five to ten minutes with feels like an idea from a different film Haller-Silverstone or Hartsell wanted to make. Instead of waiting for that movie to come along, somewhere along the way, the idea was hatched to mash two very different explorations of romance together, and the results are frequently perplexing.

There’s a gay couple (Colton Haynes and Javier Muñoz) struggling with who is playing what role and how each is contributing to their household. Haynes (San Andreas) wants to return to work, while the elder Muñoz (In the Heights) thinks his younger boyfriend should relax at home and let him provide. Their story overlaps slightly (as most do, but only just) with single mother Izzy (Rosa Gilmore, Clock) and her tentative approach to dating an old acquaintance (Ed Herbstman, The Big Sick) who happens to be the loud occupant of Ruby’s promised apartment.  Why those sounds are coming from his home isn’t what you think.  (It is incredibly silly, though.)

I still don’t think I’ve fully wrapped my head around what is happening with a thread involving an unhappily married woman (Marisa Ryan) and how she and her husband (Rick Younger) are rekindling the spice in their lives. Nor did our journey with a home care nurse (Jill Kargman, A Bad Moms Christmas) who gets awful close with the son of her patient give me anything to attach myself to emotionally. These dalliances take attention away from von Haselberg’s main plotline involving her acclimation to the area and coming under the wing of an underhanded mean girl (Julia Coffey) that manipulates Ruby’s trust.

Bearing an eerily striking resemblance to her iconic mother (if they are ever going to make a biopic on the brassy star, now is the time to do it and have her daughter play her), von Haselberg is without question the reason to persist with the film. Not to keep comparing her to Midler, but her parent has passed down a sense of good timing and an easy way into tiny emotions that play big on screen. It’s a disheartening realization that her talents are again underutilized in a role that does little to showcase her full potential as a comedic actress. I know the right project is on the horizon, and I’ll be crossing my fingers that we’ll see her rise to greater prominence soon.

The screenplay’s forced, inorganic romantic elements fail to engage genuine emotion or interest. Hartsell’s direction only exacerbates these glaring errors on a structural level. The pacing is erratic, and scenes meant to be poignant or (I’m guessing) humorous fall flat due to the uninspired camera work’s awkward framing. While often praiseworthy in independent productions, the ultra-low-budget indie aesthetic doesn’t salvage the sinking ship; instead, it serves as a constant reminder of the film’s lack of vision and resources.

Absent the necessary ingredients for a successful love story, Love…Reconsidered is a missed opportunity to put a spotlight on von Haselberg and, unfortunately, does little to contribute greatly to the romantic comedy genre. Had the screenplay parsed out its two plotlines into different projects, we could have had a somewhat inspired take on growing up and moving on in the von Haselberg side of the aisle and a quirky ensemble comedy tracking customers who pass through a curio shop and bonded by the breezy owner.  What we do have is a film confused what it wants to be and who it is choosing to tell the story.