“Everything went from wrong to right, and the stars came out and filled up the sky. The music you were playing really blew my mind; it was love at first sight” – Kylie Minogue.
Oh, if Haley Lu Richardson was a tennis player, then her career is blossoming on the backcourts. I’ve caught a few of her movies, and she’s always made herself a great fit; the sweetest and most perfect in The Edge of Seventeen, where falling in love with her is not hard at all. I often end up really liking these coming-of-age stories, and with the aforementioned ‘Edge of Seventeen, and Five Feet Apart, under her belt, I’m keen to check out Richardson’s new vehicle, where I hope to find another uplifting gem. And so it goes; twenty-year-old Hadley Sullivan (Haley Lu Richardson) misses her flight to London by four minutes, only to meet the charming math nerd Oliver (Ben Hardy), ahead of the next flight they will be on together. Of course, a random seatbelt snafu pairs these two future lovers next to each other, and thus begins our venture into the statistical probability of love at first sight.
Can I just make a swift point on how much of a klutz Hadley is; she’s late for her plane, she drops her phone at the airport, and her phone is always low on charge; she forgets her backpack, twice, and she gets lost in London 🤣 I shouldn’t laugh at a young lady trying to do her best, but you could submit her life to Funniest Home Videos! I can imagine Oliver dating Hadley, and this forgetfulness offsetting her positive attributes and starting arguments, at least once or twice over their many years together 🤣 But, hey, I’m not really here to pot this movie, because I thought Love at First Sight was pretty great. I, myself, currently uncoupled, will only be able to relay the swoony moments that worked for me within this date movie, and I will do so thusly… I liked the small things, like when Oliver offers to grab Hadley’s backpack as she mistakenly leaves it behind on their first dinner date – an early sign of teamwork, and that Oliver’s quick to have her back. I like as Oliver helps to calm Hadley down while the plane is taking air – for a similar reason to before, but it also shows how he’s a creative cutie-pie. I smiled when Hadley chose to laugh whilst telling one embarrassing story, for it may not be a mark of confidence, but it surely portrays confidence, and it’s better than an insular alternative. Therefore, these two are fun to watch take their fateful flight, as sparks surely do fly in the sky 🛫 I did have one or so boyish hang-ups though, like when we see Oliver berate himself for saying some banal utterance as he walks towards his short stay in economy class, and Hadley just seems to give a look like, “meh” – “Oliver was a nice guy, but there’ll be other guys come along, I guess”, while Oliver has already tattooed Hadley onto his mind. Why doesn’t Hadley also feel the pang that she’s about to let a good one go? 🤔 Ah, but then, it’s Hadley who journeys across London to find Oliver on a whim, once she hears about his mother’s memorial – that’s a huge display of affection right there, going the extra mile; she’s a keeper 🥰
Jameela Jamil must have had a ball playing what’s credited as ‘the Narrator’, and she makes similar more generic fairy godmothers, and even Pinocchio’s most recent blue fairy, look like a pile of puke. It sure looked like fun, undertaking all those costumes and mild personality changes, whilst always being the wisest character on screen – the moments where Hadley does a double-take with the Narrator, sensing something screwy going on, solidify a lot of the charm within this movie; as well as that one big decision to rewind time supposedly at the Narrator’s say-so. I also didn’t expect Sally Phillips, Oliver’s mother, to have such emotional scenes after we are first introduced to her, but bully for her, and make the most of a good role where you can 🤗 But this movie’s highest mark of quality must come through the scene where the movie walks the line between all of Oliver’s emotions of the day – his mother is dying, and he’s gutted while trying to keep it together for her party. He’s elated his new friend has come, but means to remain suave for the pretty girl, above all the conflicting emotional complexity. Meanwhile, Hadley is there with mature empathy, and you can feel Hadley trying to tiptoe to find the right words to support herself, as well as express to Oliver that it would be okay for him to be honest. This scene concludes with the couple’s first kiss, and the movie is good enough to shoulder that it doesn’t go well, for the script has got it covered. Here I am, trying to put the scene into words, but the point is that the movie finds a resound level-headedness while portraying this surreal predicament, which is much to be admired. Ben Hardy also proves his worth as Oliver in this scene – he’s very talented.
Overall, the movie might go a bit far in making Hadley a klutz, when it culminates in her having to explain her crazy movements to her father on his wedding night – awk-ward!! Yet Hadley’s father turns out to be just a really nice guy, completely understanding – now I feel even worse for Rob Delaney, having to go through all those traps in Home Sweet Home Alone… and for being cast in that terrible movie 😬 Give me credit, for I did watch this movie as a bloke, with the risk of it being overly sappy and superficial; but Love at First Sight proves the right kind of lovely, easy-breezy viewing, especially wonderful when a lot of today’s top content can be dour and serious. Well done, director Vanessa Caswill; knocked it out of the park, darl! The only unsteady anomaly in this movie, and I do hate to be the one to point it out, but these two new lovers were off a plane and straight into their celebrations without ever taking a shower. Pooey!
4.0
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