REVIEW: 'Love, Again' is a shallow story about awful people
Instead of inviting friends and family to celebrate the union of two people as husband and wife, Love, Again opens up with a lavish affair that is soon revealed to be the exact opposite of that. Hyun-woo (Kwon Sang-woo) and Sun-young (Lee Jung-hyun) are getting divorced in the most public of ways, even to the point of taking commemorative photos with their family to mark the occasion.
With such a definite sign of closure, Hyun-woo quickly adapts back to living a life of singlehood, but for some reason he can’t quite shake of Sun-young. Even though they were married for a short time, Hyun-woo and Sun-young quickly realise that their break up wasn’t as clean as they thought it would be, and for a time they try to extricate themselves from each others lives.
Things get even more complicated with the arrival of Sang-chul (Lee Jong-hyuk) — an old schoolmate of Hyun-woo’s — saves Sun-young after an accident. It is only when they start dating that Hyun-woo realises that the new woman his old friend keeps gushing about is actually his ex-wife.
This is a movie that isn’t shy about the complications that arise after a married couple gets a divorce, but here every new revelation about paperwork that ties Hyun-woo and Sun-young together is met with consternation and stubbornness. The two of them bicker non-stop and clearly have come to a point where they can’t stand to be in each other’s company, and much of the movie’s comedy is derived from their constant arguing.
However, their fights get very tiresome quickly, and after the third fight about something trivial, you might be forgiven for wondering why on earth they got married to each other in the first place. Interspersed in between their clashes are flashbacks to happier days during their courtship, when Hyun-woo was there for Sun-young during a particularly hard time in her life.
There is very little here that feels fresh or even funny. Most of the situational comedy in the movie borders on the cringeworthy, and you can’t help but think that two awful people like that really do deserve each other instead of inflicting their messy fight on poor Sang-chul, who is caught in the middle.
As much as the movie touts itself as a refreshing, realistic way of portraying modern-day romance, the script still relies on tired old cliches and romcom tropes. There is much potential in the script, especially with the unexpected public acknowledgement of divorce, but sadly this doesn’t come to pass. I only wish that there were more character development for all three main characters because they were all as flat as the jokes in the script.
Score: 2.5/5 stars
Love, Again opens in cinemas 21 November, 2019 (Singapore).
