Puppy Love is a romantic comedy film produced by BuzzFeed Studios and Lionsgate. The film is directed by Reid and Nicholas Fabiano and the screenplay is written by Greg Glienna, Peter Stass, Kirsten Guenther, Dan Scheinkman, and Reid. It has a runtime of about 1 hour and 46 minutes.
The cast of the film includes Lucy Hale as Nicole, Grant Gustin as Max, Jane Seymour as Diane Matthews, Michael Hitchcock as Dr Hert, Nore Davis as Sid, Christine Lee as Shay, Al Miro as Hunter, Ali Karr as Alistair, Rachel Risen as Lorraine, Corey Woods as Harper and others.
Puppy Love Review
The film starts with Nicole getting dumped by her boyfriend, while on her way to her sister’s engagement lunch. The main reason for breaking up with her was that she was too closed off and didn’t let her boyfriend get close to her emotionally. It seems like a valid reason since the breakup doesn’t seem to affect her in any way and she nonchalantly accepts it as something she expected.
Meanwhile, Max is on his way to the office since all the employees are now required to show up at the workplace, instead of working remotely only. But after being isolated for almost two years due to the pandemic, his social anxiety is off the roof. The thought of stepping into a room full of people gives him palpitations and he turns his car around to go back. As a solution, his therapist recommends pet therapy, as getting a dog might urge him to go out & even help in creating a connection with someone at least.
Hesitantly, Max adopts Chloe from a shelter and on the other hand, Nicole finds a stray dog outside her apartment. In a drunk state, she takes him home and decides to keep him eventually, as a new start. She also signs up on a dating app and posts a picture with her dog, Channing Tatum. While Max is also trying his luck on the app, they both match and decide to meet up at the dog park.
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Unfortunately, the date doesn’t go that well due to the difference in their personalities. Nicole is almost too pushy and breaks boundaries, while Max is too nervous and awkward to play along. As a result, they both swear to not see each other again but their pets had quite different plans, as their day at the park ends with getting humped behind a tree. And that one day stand makes Chloe pregnant, bringing Max & Nicole face to face again to come up with a solution.
Right from the start, the film feels quite relatable. Be it anxiety-ridden Max, not wanting to go back to the office or Nicole, who doesn’t let anyone come close enough to her. But once Chloe and Channing come into their lives, things start to change slowly. Max and his struggle to overcome his issues has to be the leading factor of the story and a wholesome journey that makes the viewers root for him. There are quite a few funny moments as well that arise due to his awkward personality.
If there were any missing points then it would be the lack of world-building for the lead characters. Almost all of the story revolves around how they adjust to each other and their pets. Other than that, we don’t get to see anything about their life. Max doesn’t want to go to the office but the creators don’t even show him working from home. There could have been a brief scene to show how people with pets have been working remotely. Similarly for Nicole, we briefly see that she works in the home staging industry but nothing else is shown afterwards. Nor do we get to know about their relationships with their families etc.
Otherwise, it’s a lighthearted romantic comedy that will keep you entertained throughout. Max and Nicole’s evolving relationship is certainly heartwarming to see and is definitely one of the good rom-com in recent years, without being cheesy or cringe.
Rating: 4/5
Puppy Love is available for streaming on Prime Video.
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