Love Life

An unusual example of a series that almost managed to turn me against someone I have sincerely liked since the beginning of her career, even despite more than one bad movie. But with Love Life I'm stuck, because the pilot episode entices with situations that honestly reflect life, believable relationships, both romantic and friendly, and the fact that the ingenue played by Anna Kendrick, Darcy, almost never leaves the screen, leaves you with the strange feeling that the series is only good when Darcy is indeed off the screen and a completely different mood, character, or memory takes over. I would never have believed that when Anna Kendrick plays a hardworking, suitably sarcastic yet vulnerable girl next door for the twentieth time, that I would find it difficult to condemn those five hours. Unfortunately, that's how it turned out, and all I believe in were those bold quips from the main character, while the rest of the unfortunate adventures or, on the other hand, the moments of joy or relief, hardly resonated with me at all. Hopefully, the main creator, Sam Boyd, will improve his reputation in the next season, where the male perspective naturally gets closer to his point of view. (07/21/2023)

An atypical series phenomenon, which almost made me dislike someone I have sincerely liked since the beginning of her career and no bad movie has changed that. With Love Life, however, even though the pilot promises situations honestly taken from life and yet perfectly mundane, believable romantic and friendly relationships, and the fact that Anna Kendrick's main character Darcy almost never leaves the screen. But then comes the strange feeling that the series is good mainly in moments when Darcy does in fact leave the screen, and her nervous tics are replaced with a completely different mood, character, or memory. I would never have believed that when Anna Kendrick plays for the twentieth time a diligent, appropriately sarcastic, yet vulnerable girl next door, I would have any trouble binging those five hours at all. Unfortunately, that's how it is, and I find only the bold utterances of the main character believable and the unfortunate mishaps or, for that matter, the cheerful moments or comic relief, almost not at all. (06/10/2024)

More civil, more believable, but sometimes paradoxically also more artificial. It is good that serial dating has been abandoned and the relationship episodes feel like realistic attempts at a new relationship or short-term fling. However, tapping into current events (COVID-19, BLM) misses the effect because they have no narrative justification or visible consequences. William Jackson Harper is much more believable in the main role and therefore more likable than Anna Kendrick, but after just two seasons, the whole concept seems just too much like a concept and not like a flexible template to play with. The premature ending therefore makes sense, as the genre variations in the final episodes were already too cumbersome. (06/10/2024)