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“Almost Love” is good enough to get you invested into the characters, but not to the point of pushing everyone you know to see it.
| Director(s) | Mike Doyle |
| Screenplay By | Mike Doyle |
| Date Released (Netflix) | 8/2/2020 |
| Genre(s) | Drama, Comedy, Romance |
| Duration | 1 Hour, 34 Minutes |
| Rating | TV-MA |
| Noted Cast | |
| Adam | Scott Evans |
| Marklin | Augustus Prew |
| Elizabeth | Kate Walsh |
| Damon | Chaz Lamar Shepherd |
| Haley | Zoe Chao |
| Scott James | Christopher Gray |
| Cammy | Michelle Buteau |
| Henry | Colin Donnell |
| Guillermo | Brian Marc |
This content contains pertinent spoilers.
Plot Summary
“Almost Love” focuses on a group connected by couple Adam and Marklin, who have been together for 5 years. Adam’s sister, Elizabeth, has been with her husband for nearly 15 years, and as for the rest of the group? Well, they struggle with being single. Haley almost has a moment with her barely 18-year-old student and Cammy? Well, her latest boyfriend is a mid-30s man who is homeless, named Henry.
Together, they try to deal with the relationships they have, especially as they enter a negative space, and lead you to question if anyone, or everyone, may achieve a happy ending?
Collected Quote(s) & .Gifs
It’s always easy to love someone who’s unavailable.
— Cammy
Review
Highlights
Michelle Buteau Got A Chance To Shine
While Buteau has a whole show in “First Wives Club,” what we saw of it didn’t click. However, in “Almost Love,” you get a sense of Buteau’s schtick that has made her a lovable character to pop in for a bit, maybe play the best friend, but not be the one focused on. Which, for a lot of comedians, sometimes is a blessing for they can feel like they overstayed their welcome. For Buteau’s Cammy, that isn’t the case.
Now, mind you, if you’ve never been over the moon about Buteau’s comic persona, she will not win you over as Cammy. It’s pretty much what we’ve seen before but with more screen time. However, if Buteau is as hilarious to you as she is to us, you may see her playing a featured character in an ensemble one more step towards her playing the starring role she deserves.
On The Fence
Your Investment In The Characters May Wane As Time Goes On
Buteau aside, her co-stars don’t really pop when we first meet them. I’d even say, while they grow on you, it isn’t to the point you are so in love and invested by the time the movie ends. More so, you’ve gotten used to them at that point and would like them to be together and happy, but you wouldn’t flip out if things didn’t work out either.
For example, Marklin and Adam are the primary relationship we see go through highs and lows, yet as a couple and individuals, they don’t pop. And as much as you have to appreciate them being grown gay men whose relationship is going through the exact same thing you’d expect from a heterosexual couple, that is kind of the issue.
What I mean by that is, with gay couples becoming normalized, there isn’t that high from the concept of seeing something rare or which requires effort to find. In becoming normalized, it becomes average, and with becoming average, it devolves into becoming generic. Add-in, as individuals, Marklin and Adam are dry as desert sand, thus Adam’s sister Elizabeth and the inclusion of Buteau’s Cammy, and you can see how the film tries to compensate for the lackluster star couple.
Then when you add Chao’s Haley, who also relies a bit on Cammy, and you find yourself with characters who aren’t annoying or will make you end the movie, but they won’t necessarily excite you either.
Overall Rating
Would Watch Again? – One and Done
Rating: Mixed (Divisive)
“Almost Love” shows us what the new generic formula will be for romance movies. One which is inclusive, but just because it now has gay people, people of color, and women of all shapes and sizes, that doesn’t mean it’ll be good. Now that’s just the basics and, like its peers, it’ll have to have something special to deserved prolonged attention. Which, outside of Buteau, “Almost Love” doesn’t have.
Hence the mixed label. “Almost Love” is largely unremarkable, and though you’ll get through it, you’ll forget it as soon as you watch something else.
Where To Watch
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Ending Explained (Spoilers)
In the end, nearly everyone has a happy ending. Adam and Marklin, despite Adam questioning if Marklin was cheating on him, and Marklin growing tired of Adam feeling inadequate since their financial dynamic changed, are still together. Heck, they were even hinting to the idea of marriage.
Which, by the way, happens at Elizabeth’s wedding to what was almost her ex-husband, Damon. Someone who she makes it seem did have an affair with a younger woman due to his desire to have a child. But, through one means or another, they reconcile and renew their vows.
Leaving Haley and Cammy. When it comes to Haley, after Cammy corrects her mindset, she realizes she doesn’t have romantic feelings for her student, Scott James, but rather enjoys someone depending on her and seeking out her approval. This helps her immensely draw mental and emotional boundaries, and with the realization, his new girlfriend enables him as she once did, it helps her really understand what she was doing.
Lastly, there is Cammy. After feeling a bit embarrassed by her relationship to Henry, since he was homeless for most of the movie, paired with saying her vagina tastes like old pennies, she learns he is a ride share drive. On top of that, he has his own place! This information leads to him becoming Cammy’s date to Elizabeth’s wedding and maybe the two going for another round.
Sequel Potential
A sequel could focus on Adam and Marklin getting married, since Elizabeth hands Adam the bouquet, and Adam gives Marklin a look. Also, considering how Haley was talking to the ice cream guy, Guillermo, while at Elizabeth’s wedding, something could happen there. Not to forget, Cammy could finally see she doesn’t only date losers, just works in progress.
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