‘Love Language’ review: A dramatic homage to romcoms

Chloë Grace Moretz and a fun supporting cast anchor Love Language, a neat blend of heart and humor that owes a lot to its influences.

You’ve got to hand it to Love Language for being upfront about its influences. Functioning like Cyrano by way of My Best Friend’s Wedding, it shines when it pays homage to classic romcoms, but leans too dramatic to count itself among the best of the genre.

Lou (Chloë Grace Moretz), newly single after an abruptly-ended engagement, is surrounded by happily-partnered people. She slumps her way through her marketing job and can’t bring herself to finish the young adult novel she’s been writing for years. After Lou wallows her way through her best friend Tilda’s (Billie Lourd) bachelorette weekend, Tilda enlists Lou to rewrite her wedding vows.

Tilda’s vows win over her guests, and after her cousin Dash (Anthony Ramos) gives Lou some encouragement, Lou finds herself running a side hustle ghostwriting other people’s wedding vows. After a slew of meeting happy clients’ needs, only newly-engaged entrepreneur Olivia (Isabel May) questions Lou’s qualifications writing vows when she herself is unmarried. It’s a fair question, but Lou still secures the gig ghostwriting Olivia’s vows. There’s just one problem: Olivia’s fiancé is Lou’s former college crush, Warren (Manny Jacinto). Lou and Warren’s reconnection after years apart spells a problem for Lou, who finds herself falling in love with Warren again just as she’s writing vows Warren will hear from someone else.

1990s romcoms clearly influenced Love Language.

Photo Credit: Peter Jarowey and Vertical

Love Language borrows from romcom greats with flair, lacing it with cues from My Best Friend’s Wedding and When Harry Met Sally. It makes the most of its Chicago setting, framing it as a supporting character alongside its ensemble cast. That pedigree helps Love Language in the best of times, as any good couple Lou helps might hope to endure.

But like any relationship, Love Language has its lows, too. The dialogue at times feels aggressively determined to cement the film as a 21st-century iteration of its romcom predecessors. There’s a quaint charm to how contemporary landlines or AOL are in the 1990s romcoms of yore, but references to LinkedIn Premium and generative AI come off as efforts to entrench Love Language as a defining 2020s romcom rather than allowing it to have the throwback charm it so earnestly wants to embody.

That said, Love Language is best when borrowing from its influences. Lou and Warren have a steadily-growing chemistry built on their shared history without villainizing Olivia, hearkening back to the Julia Roberts/Dermot Mulroney/Cameron Diaz dynamic in My Best Friend’s Wedding. A double-date dinner scene escalates into an emotionally fraught version of the double date in When Harry Met Sally. Writer/director Joey Power’s love for romcoms is evident and realized with earnest care.

A strong supporting cast anchors Love Language.

Photo Credit: Peter Jarowey and Vertical

An ensemble piece lives and dies by its casting. Lourd and Lukas Gage, so often utilized as quirky supporting characters in modern comedies (Lourd in Booksmart, Gage in Voicemails for Isabelle, among others), fulfill that same role here. They’re ever-present, fun fixtures of Lou’s life, though their own relationships feel like excuses to explore Lou’s relationship woes, rather than making them feel like characters with vivid offscreen lives. But they’re memorable and quirky without being grating, and question Lou’s motives for hanging out with Warren with genuine concern.

Jacinto is a natural romantic hero, bringing depth to his banter and exuding timeless charm in a role that clearly understands his appeal. May’s wealthy Olivia is a stark contrast to Lou’s hustling without feeling like a caricature or a villain. Moretz and Ramos, however, bring the best to their roles but their chemistry feels a bit off. Dash, at times, feels like a prop for helping Lou sort out her feelings; Ramos is stronger than the material he’s working with.

The interesting thing about Love Language is that it plays, and is shot, more like a romantic drama despite its romcom influences. Andrew Wehde’s cinematography and Olivia Perdoch’s costumes are stylish without being unrealistic or fantastical, grounding the film in welcome realism. One wonders, however, how these characters (besides Olivia) can afford luxe apartments. The script leans more dramatic than outwardly funny as Lou wrestles with the dilemma of falling for the one person she really, really cannot have. It’s a fascinating exploration of romcom dynamics with a lean approach to laugh-out-loud comedy.

The bottom line.

Love Language doesn’t reinvent the romcom, but rewrites it just enough to have glimmers of fresh moments. Power’s dialogue brings 21st-century sensibility to its characters, giving them room to be messy, conflicted, and hopeful while still pushing them to be better people. Sweet, messy, and charming, Love Language leans more into drama while homaging comedies, but speaks the language of love nonetheless.

Love Language is now playing in select theaters. Watch the trailer below.

Images courtesy of Peter Jarowey and Vertical.

Claire Di Maio

Claire was once asked in elementary school why her go-to question was always, “Watch anything good lately?” It’s still her go-to question, because she loves hearing what other people are passionate about. She often sacrifices sleep in the hopes that she will one day clear her to-watch and to-read lists (a futile effort so far).