The Lovebirds

Starring: Kumail Nanjiani, Issa Rae, Anna Camp, Paul Sparks

Director: Michael Showalter

It was love at first sight for Jibron (Kumail Nanjiani) and Leilani (Issa Rae), beginning what appears to be the perfect relationship. Fast forward four years and their relationship is barely hanging on, as a fight about whether they would be able to win The Amazing Race together signals its downfall. As they drive to a friend's and the realization sinks in that they are over, Jibron accidentally hits a biker with his car. As he bikes away their car is commandeered by a mysterious man (Paul Sparks) claiming to be a cop and quickly chases down the biker and runs him over repeatedly with the car. As their relationship hangs in the balance, Jibron and Leilani find themselves running all across New Orleans trying to clear their names and solve the murder.

I was really looking forward to this movie. The trailer had me in stitches and it looked like it could be a solid companion to the insanely entertaining Game Night. While it never reaches the level of that film, it still provided a solid 87 minutes of laughs. It's a shame this didn't get its planned theatrical release as it had the potential to be a theatrical sleeper hit.

A lot of credit goes to Issa Rae and Kumail Nanjiani. Their relationship, while given very little set up, comes across as genuine thanks to their witty back and forth and natural chemistry. Nanjiani gets a lot of mileage out of his hysterical reactions to what is happening. His reaction when the biker is being run over multiple times is classic and all he has to do is make a face. Rae's Leilani takes no nonsense, especially from Jibron, and gets some good laughs pointing out how dumb Jibron is acting. Her exasperation at him wanting to go to the police and playing out how it would go because of the color of their skin is at the same time hilarious and in today's world unfortunately accurate.

It may seem like an odd choice for director Michael Showalter to follow up his critically acclaimed and character driven indies Hello, My Name is Doris and The Big Sick (also starring Nanjiani) with a big studio comedy (Paramount was originally going to release this before the pandemic forced them to sell it to Netflix). While short on character development and featuring a plot with no real surprises, he keeps the pace brisk and the comedy flowing. A hilariously unexpected police interrogation of Jibron and Leilani late in the film is a highlight.

While many should tune in for the chemistry between Nanjiani and Rae, there are lots of laughs to have in this comedic gem.

Grade: B+

The Lovebirds is available to stream on Netflix.