Love Stuck (2024)

Good idea, enjoyable, but missed the mark

The concept of time loop has been done by so many series before, and this movie is the second iteration of another American title. But alas, it tries to do more and fell short of being a good rom-com with poor explanation and story pacing. The story starts out with our main character, Toy, who is doing wild things because he is in an infinite loop on last day of the year. Everyone around him is not aware of this to his frustration. That is one day when he meet our female lead, Vee, who is also aware of the loop also. And that seems like a plot to a good/innovative story. However, this is where many things seem to fell short.

First, Toy is very uneven. One day he is erratic. One day he is nice. One day he is very aware of little things. Another is totally clueless about his surrounding. It just seems to flip around conveniently without decent reasons or pace. Side stories with his family has some family-culture-touching moments, but feel like additions that lack cohesion to the main line. It just seems out of place and fixed by a simple, "because I am there and you succeed and become happy". It feels contrived.

For our female lead, Vee, her story is meant to be the key of the loop. They try to give little mysteries and hints, but it accidentally show the entire hand. Instead of focusing on her daily routine, giving simple monologue, and/or exploring her perspective, the first hint is already obvious to anyone who ever watch enough Jdrama. The movie could have split the focus into two different perspectives without giving away anythings until much later. Faulting this one on directors and screenwriters.

The science. Oh no. This one falls flat to the ground...badly It tries hard to blend "science" with fantasy using pseudo-random physics ideas, and not explain how it can happen. It never fully explain why Toy is in this time loop. It did not fully explain how/why they believe the way out is really the solution to the loop. It would have been much cleaner to just go with a random fantasy-mystic-god-alien-phenomenon as the reason. The viewers already know that this is a fantasy world.

I am a sucker for time-loop and time-travel story. However, this one ranks on a lower-middle side. They could skip the science. Improve the story pacing, instead of making Toy into a different person on a whim. Don't make him one day ungrateful, then nice overnight. The family members and the friend side-stories need to be flushed out. They feel pointless in this movie. The female lead needs to be expanded upon. Sadly, the fact that this is a remake made it more regrettable for the missed improvements.

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