When I started watching The Love Hypothesis I was unaware of the fact that it was based on a story that started life as Star Wars fan fiction. All I knew about it was that it was a rom-com, it was directed by Claire Scanlon (who also helmed the enjoyable rom-com Set It Up), and it starred two people in lead roles that I wasn't very familiar with.
Lili Reinhart plays Olive Smith, a very smart student with a very bright future. She doesn't have anyone really close to her though, which is why her relationship with uni bestie Anh (Rachel Marsh) is so important. More important than her crush on Jeremy (Nicholas Duvernay). When she realises that Jeremy actually has a crush on Anh, but knows that Anh won't pursue it if she thinks that Olive will have her feelings hurt, there's only one solution . . . pretend to be in a relationship. Events conspire to push Olive and the notoriously mean Dr. Adam Carlsen (Tom Bateman) together, which could work out well for both of them, as Dr. Carlsen needs to show how settled he is in order to be rewarded with some vital grant money. The pretence has rewards, but it isn't without risks, including the development of some real feelings.
Once you know what (or who) Ali Hazelwood was writing about then The Love Hypothesis becomes amusingly obvious in how the leads are characterised, but Sarah Rothschild does good work in crafting a screenplay that keeps everything moving quickly from one satisfying rom-com moment to the next. There's a couple of "meet cute" scenes that work well, plenty of fun to be had with the initial awkwardness between our stars, and a believable development in the strength of the connection between them. Lessons are learned, obstacles are put in their way, and you will know how it is going to end as soon as it starts. But that's part of the appeal. If I don't want a formulaic movie then I will look elsewhere, but if I seek out a new rom-com then, dammit, I want enough rom and enough com, and director Scanlon delivers on both fronts here.
Reinhart does well in her role, and she's good enough to warrant top billing. Bateman also does well, and he provides a lot of the comedy with his stern and analytical approach to most interactions. Marsh is the kind of best friend that everyone wishes they could have in their lives, Duvernay does perfectly fine with what is asked of him, although that's not too much, and Jaboukie Young-White is more enjoyable when he's partying and neglecting his studies than when he has to face any consequences for partying and neglecting his studies. Arty Froushan is a very important secondary character, Dr. Thomas Benton, but the plot thread concerning Olive's research, and attempts to impress the likes of Benton and his peers, feels slightly undercooked until it becomes pivotal to the third act.
I'm not going to rush to recommend this to everyone, but you could do a lot worse if you're after some fluffy and (mostly) sweet fun. The more adult moments that are presented in the third act may put you off slightly, but it's all handled in just the right way by Scanlon, who allows her characters to maintain a vulnerability and/or defensiveness that, while part and parcel of the sub-genre, will be very familiar to those who have tiptoed through the early stages of any major relationship.
And, hey, at least it didn't stick close enough to the source material to have our protagonists presented as two Death Star-crossed lovers.
6/10
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