004. Stuck In Love

Spoilers under the cut. Beware.

'Stuck in Love' tells the story of a family of writers, trying to figure out their lives through love and relationships, with their family members and significant others. It's a beautifully crafted story that involves three character perspectives, between a middle-aged divorced couple, a pair of college students and high schoolers. The diversity in age and the issues they face, is the main characteristic that defines the authenticity of this film. From the very beginning, this film carries a distinctive artistic indie flair - perfect for the content explored. The acting here is absolutely superb! The range of emotional responses to the situations presented between each character was extraordinary.  Each character had their own struggles to face, including the situation of the parents divorce - the central point of this film. Exploring these relationships on screen with multiple characters and situations, occurring in one film can be hard to execute; but it was done brilliantly. Each age group was given an equal amount of on-screen time, and there is something meaningful there for everyone. Whatever situation you may have or could encounter in the future, through personal or second hand experiences, was in this movie. It is a beautiful exploration into the romantic lives of a family, holding different perspectives and opinions with all things amore. I would definitely recommend this film for anyone whose interested in seeing something a little bit different from your average rom-com!


I love the exploration of every single character and how they approach the relationships in their lives. One of my favourite moments in the movie, was when Sam and Lou were sitting in the car, with the pouring rain misting their windows. Those moments of utter happiness drastically changed into tears of raw emotion, leading to the Sam's confession of being scared to give her heart to someone - giving them the ultimate power to essentially break her heart. That was a beautiful moment of clarity that really showed the depth of Sam's character, which up until that point could have arguably, been seen to be a stereotypical teenage character filled with angst against love. Seeing that scene unfold on screen was just exquisite. Another thing that I truly loved is the fact that all the clips available online, did not give away the entire story line of this film, and because of that, I was genuinely surprised at the direction this film took. It also had it's quirky moments and awkward tones that paralleled everyday life through the camera lens. These aspects brought an certain charm to this film, that I find is lacking especially in movies today.

I would say my issues with this film has to be the fact that it portrayed a kind of idealised version of what writers are in some ways. Though the idea of writers drawing from their own experiences to creative fictional work may be true, I do believe that writers can create new experiences from the imagination. This film never paid tribute to that fact, which kind of bugged me as a writer myself. Writing is such a mysterious thing. When you have creative flow of words, you just keep going. But when you've got writer's block, it can be pretty hard to break through it. I wish that had been touched upon at some point. Although I will say, it arguably did imply that the everyday real life can influence the fictional, which was a beautiful thought in a way. One aspect that I really didn't like was the way in which this film ended. There was something very awkward and abrupt about the way this film came to a close. The screen immediately cut to the black, and the quote seemed to end mid-way. It felt like something was missing from that ending, that factor of closure. Maybe having an interaction gaze between the mother and father, and a long shot of the family laughing together through all their trials and tribulations of love. I felt like that would have been a much better way to close off the film, personally.

Overall, it was a beautifully artistic film, that actually can reach a variety of different age groups. After seeing this I can say, I am really enjoying Josh Boones work here, and am so excited that he is taking on 'The Fault In Our Stars'. He will definitely be a name I'll be looking out for in future. So have you seen 'Stuck In Love'? If so, what did you think? What was your favourite or least favourite part of the movie? Let me know - in the comments below! Until next time ....