Do you ever seem like the show business might be punking you?
I felt that method just recently when I received an email about the very first season of The Lincoln Lawyer coming out on DVD. Let me see if I’m following this properly: The Lincoln Lawyer, which streams on Netflix, a platform that almost solitarily made DVD leasings and ownership an antique of the past, has its programs being launched on DVD? Is there a surprise cam someplace enjoying me read this news release?
That’s sort of how I felt enjoying Puppy Love, the Amazon Freevee movie starring Lucy Hale and Grant Gustin. The romantic funny is based upon a series of BuzzFeed videos entitled “Puppyhood” (Puppy Love is the 4th film Lionsgate has actually produced with BuzzFeed). While cute and possibly a little mentally manipulative, these videos likewise functioned as a good advertisement for Purina Puppy Chow. I think I shouldn’t have actually been amazed by all the item positioning (Smartfood, Cabot cheese) that appeared in the film. But, wait, we’re making a motion picture based upon commercials, produced by a platform understood for its listicles and tests?
Nicole (Hale) is a chaotic millennial who, after the death of her daddy, passes up going to art school to end up being a property stager for a high-end realty representative. We understand her life is mayhem since she oversleeps, places on a stained t-shirt to use to work and has an unpleasant car. Max (Gustin) is a socially distressed, germophobic computer system developer. We understand this since he doesn’t wish to roll down his window at the drive thru and can’t bring himself to really enter into his workplace.
Nicole and Max fulfill on Bumble (more item positioning) and choose to go to the park with their particular dogs, Channing Tatum and Chloe. One thing causes another and Chloe is pregnant. Of course, Nicole and Max don’t get along. And obviously, their dogs bring them together. The script has an easy-to-follow, fill-in-the-blanks format. (Of note: The film’s main credits note 5 various authors.)
Make no error: Puppy Love is a bad film. This isn’t a specific accurate computation, however it definitely looks like a minimum of 30% of the 106-minute film are montages. (Although, shout-out to some strong music options, like the cover of “It Must Have Been Love.”) The characters act in manner ins which defy reasoning. Max is clever enough to be a computer system developer yet believes he can go to the drug store and get his dog a fallback tablet? Supporting parts, like an extremely passionate dog Lamaze instructor (Rachel Risen), condescending therapist (Nimet Kanji) and a chatty vet (Michael Hitchcock) are method too over the top. And parts like Nicole’s mother, played by Jane Seymour, are frantically underwritten. Why have Dr. Quinn herself in your film if you aren’t going to utilize her? I need to think there are extra Seymour scenes someplace. Perhaps they’ll appear on the inescapable DVD bonus of this straight-to-streaming film.
But the important things is, Puppy Love had a lot capacity to be good. Gustin and Hale have terrific, lovely chemistry. The 2 television stars (Hale invested 7 seasons on Pretty Little Liars and Gustin simply ended a nine-season run as The Flash). They both do so much with the minimal product they are provided. The characters’ vulnerability is palpable and the scenes in between the 2 are so sincere that you get a peek of the film that may have been.
There’s a long custom of putting precious television stars together in made-for-TV motion pictures. Puppy Love advised me of the ABC Family motion pictures of the early 2000s, which released popular television stars in satisfying romantic funnies like 2004’s I Want to Marry Ryan Banks, which starred Jason Priestley, Emma Caulfield and Bradley Cooper (!!) or 2003’s See Jane Date, which starred Holly Marie Combs and Charisma Carpenter. Perhaps naively, I was thrilled to see Amazon Freevee following in this grand custom. I simply want completion outcome was a lot better. Alas, in the end, the very best part of Puppy Love might be its double entendre marketing tagline: “One bone can change everything.” Kudos to the authors who created that line.
Director: Richard Alan Reid, Nicholas Fabiano
Writers: Greg Glienna, Peter Stass, Kirsten Guenther, Dan Scheinkman, Richard Alan Reid
Starring: Lucy Hale, Grant Gustin, Jane Seymour, Michael Hitchcock, Nore Davis
Release Date: August 18, 2023 (Freevee)
Amy Amatangelo, the TELEVISION Gal®, is a Boston-based freelance author and a member of the Television Critics Association. She wasn’t enabled to enjoy much television as a kid and now her moms and dads need to deal with this as her profession. You can follow her on Twitter (@AmyTELEVISIONGal).
