"Love Hard": Netflix's Most Recent Trending Movie Sparks the Holiday Season - Movie review

Love Hard

Directed by Hernan Jimenez. Written by Danny Mackey; Rebecca Ewing. Produced by McG; Mary Viola. Starring Nina Dobrev, Jimmy O. Yang, Daren Barnet. Released Nov. 5, 2021. Streaming on Netflix.

Rating: A-

By Erin Fennell

It’s November so you know what that means… We skip over Thanksgiving and get right into the Christmas spirit. This week, Netflix’s “Top 10 Trending” movie list includes another new release. The film “Love Hard” is a Christmas love story with a modern twist. The romantic comedy follows new love that sparked from a dating app. Featuring Natalie Bauer (Nina Dobrev), this story is picture perfect until she learns she’s been cat-fished. Currently ranked at number one after only being released for 4 days, this film’s plot is based around the traditional holiday love story that seems to never get old.

LA native, Natalie, is a writer who is continuously unlucky in love and uses her dating horror stories as fuel for her career. Working under the pseudonym “Always A Bridesmaid,” Natalie chronicles her dating life, but now she is at the point where she is tired of never finding the one. This is the point in a movie when you just know something is going to alter the course of the story. That being said, she decides to make a change and expand her dating app radius to search across the country. She connects with a man named Josh Lin, (Jimmy O. Yang) on the app who she thinks will turn her love life around for the better.

After weeks of getting to know each other, Natalie decides to surprise Josh by flying to New York for the holidays and finds out he's not quite who he says he is. Instead of finding a tall handsome man, she finds a smaller, not so conventionally attractive one, who still lives with his parents. Heartbroken and angry, Natalie finds herself drunk at the closest bar, where she runs into the man she thought she was dating. Josh had followed her to the bar and explained that the real man is his old friend named Tag (Darren Barnet). A deal is struck, and Josh agrees to help Natalie get the fairytale ending she came for, with Tag. All Natalie has to do is stay at Josh’s through the holiday season and pretend to date him to impress his family. The rest of the film follows the characters and their plan to get what they want this Christmas.

As I mentioned, this plot was based on the traditional Christmas romance story, where love was found unexpectedly. The story also incorporated messages on why always being yourself and loving yourself is important. That was a new theme that I don’t think I have seen in a holiday romance movie yet and made the film unexpectedly creative.

Embodying the traits of a Hallmark Holiday movie, this film touches on all the character types you’d expect to see in a romantic comedy. Featured is the “unlucky in love” protagonist who finds happiness in the most unexpected place. Next is the awkward character that has more to offer than anyone can see. There’re the overbearing parents who are way too involved in their child's love-life. We have a sibling who is happily married and is extremely successful. And lastly, you can’t forget to include the older family member who makes wildly inappropriate comments. While overused and predictable, these characters ensure that any film will be at minimum fun to watch. However, in this case they did more than just that. I really enjoyed the life that the actors brought to these stereotypical characters and how it raised the film to a new level.

Dobrev showed a new side to her acting, shifting from being the star of the hit teen drama “The Vampire Diaries”, to the comedic lead in a holiday film. Anyhow, her range shows through, as she played this character so well. I almost forgot she was in a vampire series, and I watched that show through and through about four times. Jimmy O. Yang also had a notable performance. However, he is known for his comedic roles, with appearances in “Crazy Rich Asians” and “The Happy Time Murders”. His experience was clear by how effortlessly he seemed to blend with his character. What was impressive was how well he made his emotional and more serious scenes feel so real.

It’s hard to mistake this movie as anything other than a Christmas movie. The opening song is “Little Saint Nick '' by the beach boys. The first thing you hear is jingle bells, setting the tone right off the bat. And other Christmas songs are played and sung throughout, including a remix of “Baby It’s Cold Outside ''.

In addition to the music, there are a multitude of visual elements that turn this movie into a winter wonderland. Once Natalie departs from sunny and warm LA, it's snow and Christmas decor everywhere you look in New York. Even the costumes are red, green, and festive. And if they aren't Christmas themed, they are definitely winter themed. Knit sweaters, hats and puffy coats are shown on the characters in essentially every scene, making sure you never forget it’s the winter season.

The overall feel of this movie screams Hallmark. This newer version of a retold story relates better to the modern audience. But even with this twist, the story still feels mildly overplayed. There are only so many variations of a holiday romance that can be written before it loses its creativity, and therefore the wow factor.

"Love Hard" (2021) "Love Actually" (2003)

With that being said, this is still an entertaining movie with great acting and a reliable plot. I would recommend this movie during the winter holidays, as a good movie to help get into the Christmas spirit. This is a movie to watch while you're stuck inside on a snowy day, and best accompanied by a cup of hot chocolate and in your sweats.