Movie Review: No Stranger Than Love – Original But Mediocre

Genre: Comedy

Director: Nick Wernham

Cast: Alison Brie, Colin Hanks, and Justin Chatwin

Studio: Momentum Pictures

Runtime: 90 Minutes

Release: In Theaters and On VOD June 17, 2016

Rated: R

Rating ★★★★★

No Stranger Than Love follows Lucy Shellington (Alison Brie), a high school art teacher who decides to have an affair with married football coach Clint Coburn (Colin Hanks). One night, shortly after declaring their love for each other, a hole appears in Lucy’s living room and swallows Clint whole. Now Lucy has to find a way to get him out, all while still trying to keep her affair a secret from the town.

I’m not the biggest fan when it comes to romantic comedies; they usually all fall trap to the same basic clichés and use familiar jokes. However, I wanted to see No Stranger Than Love due to the absurdity of the idea of someone getting sucked into a hole that appears out of nowhere. The moments in the film that play off this ridiculousness are easily the funniest and had me cracking up.

It’s a shame the rest of the movie falls flat. From the dialogue to the look of the film, everything is sort of bland and generic. None of the jokes really land and most of the characters are not amusing. In the beginning of No Stranger Than Love, it’s set up that all the men in the town love Lucy for some unknown reason, and most of the male characters’ dialogue revolves around them constantly declaring their love for her. It becomes tiresome because it’s the same joke repeated throughout the film.

Alison Brie as Lucy Photo Cr: © 2016 Momentum Pictures and Orion Releasing LLC.

Lucy herself is a pretty uncompelling character. She’s a perfect goody-two-shoes with no other stand out qualities. Lucy is so perfect that she could come across as annoying if it weren’t for Brie’s performance. She has just enough charm to keep the character from being totally unlikable.

Clint is the scene stealer though. His one-liners about being stuck in the hole, and his worry about being caught cheating on his wife more than his predicament is pretty amusing. Hank’s performance is easily the best of the film, his deadpan delivery helping to bring energy to an otherwise lifeless script.

Colin Hanks as Clint Photo Cr: © 2016 Momentum Pictures and Orion Releasing LLC.

While most of the film is simply okay, everything falls apart in the last act. No Stranger Than Love fully becomes every romantic comedy from the last 10 years. Complete with a character giving a ham-fisted speech about love that’s clearly not as smart as it’s trying to be, it’s easily the worst part of the film and leaves you irritated.

Despite that, No Stranger Than Love is not the worst romantic comedy I’ve ever seen, but it’ll probably escape my memory by month’s end. Hank’s performance and the few scenes that have fun with this original idea are the only reasons I’d recommend it. Other than that, you’re really not missing much if you skip it.

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Dustin Kogler

Professional amateur movie watcher. Dustin is a laid-back nerd who loves discussing pop culture. He loves listening to 80s music, playing video games and watching netflix all day. He's pretty sarcastic and if you tell him your favorite movie he can tell you why you're wrong.