Love Reconsidered is a romantic comedy directed by Carol Ray Hartsell and written by Arielle Haller-Silverstone. The film takes place in New York City and the Hamptons, and it’s a light-hearted watch that will leave you surprisingly happy at the end.
The protagonist of the story is Ruby (Sophie von Haselberg), and everything about her has been designed to make us root for her. But from outside of the story, every moment von Haselberg is on screen is just delightful. She has this easy charisma that grabs hold of the camera’s and therefore the audience’s attention. It’s lovely, she’s a wonderful romantic lead.
Ruby has a job (and loses it) because she dreams beyond being a lowly caterwaiter. This doesn’t come as a shock to her. Her caterwaiter boss put up a “no schmoozing” sign specifically for her at events. But fall through it does, and we’re introduced to where she actually stands. She’s 30 years old and “flirty but not thriving,” per the film‘s marketing materials. Ruby still lives with her parents in her childhood room, there are bunk beds, stuffed animals, pictures of aspirational women on the wall you get it. And now Noah (Jon Lemmon), her on-again but mostly off-again boyfriend, has broken up with her again he needs space. Things are bad for Ruby.
A chance meeting on a park bench with an older woman who feeds pigeons definitely Golda (Elaine Bromka), definitely not a serial killer leads to an offer of a lifetime for Ruby. She takes it, and off she goes to manage Golda’s defunct consignment store in The Hamptons.
But things go wrong because otherwise there wouldn’t be much movie left if Ruby got what she wanted right away. The apartment that Golda has for Ruby to stay in is occupied by a good hearted but mom obsessed porn editing man named Elijah (Ed Herbstman). She ends up staying in a trailer with John (Luke Gulbranson), who has all the swagger and heart of Wilson Bethel’s Wade in Hart of Dixie. This character and casting are great foils for von Haselberg, and their moments together provide much Love Reconsidered comedy.
And after things have gone so wrong for Ruby, putting her firmly in this new to her world of The Hamptons, the focus shifts from her story to others. Ruby and The Magic Closet are now hubs connecting many other love stories. As people come into her shop, we follow them and get little vignettes of their love lives/relationships. It seems as if they’re all touched by a little bit of magic.
All of these are separate and fascinating examinations of love, power, innocence, and lies but they’re not Ruby. The pockets we spend in their lives are interesting and filled with enough drama and characters that they could be their own stories. This is Ruby’s story, and she shouldn’t have to share it even if Paige, Ollie, and the rest are refreshing.
Maybe that’s the point of the movie. Ruby does get her happy ending but it isn’t love. A villainess in the story named Eden (Julia Coffey) gets her comeuppance due to something John notices about her that we won’t spoil in this review. It’s a deeply satisfying moment after seeing Eden put Ruby through in between those other love vignettes for her character development during stolen moments. As they’re celebrating, John asks Ruby out. And she declines him because she already has what she wants. Love Reconsidered is thoughtful and quite progressive within its genre you don’t need a partner to be fulfilled or happy. Ruby is “dying to be relevant” and gets her relevance at last along with a loving community.
But Love Reconsidered is not a traditional romantic comedy, and for those expecting that there may be some conflicting feelings as they watch it unfold. It’s about love, but the film’s opening conceit differs from the journey the filmmakers ultimately take us on. I want to make it clear. This was a fun movie! It was made well! The acting was good! But what happened wasn’t what I expected, maybe a better title would’ve been Romantic Comedy Reconsidered.
On a lighter note, Love Reconsidered uses Gwyneth Paltrow and Goop to great effect in bringing life to the Hamptonsian personalities. I wanted Paltrow so badly Jake Johnson’s directorial debut Self Reliance got Wayne Brady to pop up after referencing him throughout they referenced her so often here that I expected it. It was probably out of budget but it would’ve been a solid “crunchy dill” move.
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