In the world of movies there is the accepted adage that ‘the book is always better’ meaning movies are usually lesser forms of the stories told in the books they are adapting. However, there are exceptions to this rule and the recent adaptation of The Love Hypothesis is such an example. Perhaps that is helped by the novel in question being Reylo Star Wars fan fiction to begin with but I enjoyed this film more than the novel.
I have now read 2 of author Ali Hazelwood’s novels and I had the same problem with both books. She is too worried with her characters being non-problematic that they come across as phony with the dialogue feeling therapy coded and inauthentic. In The Love Hypothesis the characters are entering into a contract for fake dating but practically every conversation feels like it was pre-approved by the character’s shrinks rather than the clumsy awkward way humans actually talk.
I’m not saying I don’t want respect and consent to be a thing but I also don’t want to be reading a romance about robots who always say the right thing at the right time. This is particularly true for Hazelwood’s characters who are young college age or in this case graduate students. Like I said The Love Hypothesis gets a little bit of a pass because it started as Reylo fan fiction so it wasn’t meant to be a serious novel but when multiple books have this same problem it’s a turn off.
Anyway, back to the movie… in the adaptation by Sarah Rothschild, directed by Claire Scanlon, they take the story of the novel and minimize the therapy talk making it a part of flirty banter of the nerdy scientists. It also helps they have 2 leads in Tom Bateman and Lili Reinhart who have sizzling chemistry together. I also appreciate the little winks to Reylo in the direction (having Adam in all black, the way he walks, enters a room, the music playing at certain moments are a lot of fun.
The plot is of course ridiculous but I must admit I’m a sucker for the fake dating trope. It almost always works for me. Also grumpy guy and sunshine girl is another favorite trope (and a favorite of almost every Hazelwood novel.) The movie is about 30 minutes longer than it needs to be (I really think these types of rom-coms are best at the 80-90 minute mark but maybe that’s just what I’ve been acclimated to with the Hallmark formula films)
That said, if you like a rom-com with witty banter between leads with good chemistry you’ll fall in love with The Love Hypothesis. Certainly if you liked the book you’ll love this film. It is on the spicy side like the book so be forewarned but it’s also a sexy, fun good time.
