‘I Love Lizzy’ Netflix Movie Review - An Empty, Unbelievable Romance

While watching I Love Lizzy, the (emotional) intelligence of the audience decreases by almost 80%. Here is a movie that doesn't merely think we are dumb but also attempts to make us dumb. It tries to achieve its task using emotional manipulations. People easily sympathize with couples who don't end up together, maybe because most of them overly romanticize heartbroken lovers. They consider themselves the victim of unrequited love, and when the characters on the screen don't end up living with each other, they look at them and think about their own doomed romance. This is why a filmmaker can put in the bare minimum effort with such material, and many viewers would still shower acclaim on the film for being "heartbreaking," "intense," or "truthful." This certainly explains why something as mediocre as Past Lives is being acclaimed by so many people. Celine Song merely gave the movie an "art house" aesthetic and tone, and critics showered it with love.

But RC Delos Reyes gives his film a shiny aesthetic. The images are soft and bright, which makes it seem as if I Love Lizzy is whispering, "Hey, don't take anything seriously." Of course, you follow these instructions with ease. After all, how can you believe anything in a film where a girl calls a strange man "cute boy" and overly touches him? The fact that she is drunk is nothing but a flimsy excuse to start the romance. She is Lizzy (Barbie Imperial), and he is Jeff (Carlo Aquino). She is a tour guide, and he is a seminarian. It quickly becomes evident that Jeff will turn away from the church to pursue Lizzy. The problem is that the movie, too, knows what we are thinking. Hence, it pulls the rug from beneath your feet by going into more facile and unconvincing territories.

I Love Lizzy can be divided into two parts: Pre-accident and post-accident. The pre-accident portions are utterly conventional. It's all bland. For chemistry, the movie relies on Aquino and Imperial's good looks. Attractive people attract each other. She forces him to drink and pees on him, but hey, she is cute. He, during the post-accident portions, makes a stupid decision after an incident that leaves her heartbroken, but hey, his (sad) face looks good. I Love Lizzy unintentionally proves that if external appearances give rise to love, your relationship is heading toward disaster because the brain is not present when beauty is involved. Lizzy and Jeff are as pretty as a picture. Unfortunately for them, they seem to have very little intelligence. I mean, who even touches alcohol after a mishap? Who disappears from someone's life without providing any explanation, especially when that someone is very special?

I Love Lizzy can often be downright unwatchable. It sorely depends on lazy plot conveniences (a man is just present in the church to help Jeff). One can say these conveniences are nothing but "god's plan for these lovers." But what does this plan achieve? What great contribution does Jeff offer to the church by becoming a priest? Does anything good come out of Jeff and Lizzy's separation? The movie gods seem clueless. They merely want to fill your eyes with tears. I Love Lizzy is terribly unremarkable. It serves an empty, unbelievable romance. The main message one can derive from this film is that alcohol is bad.

Final Score- [3/10]
Reviewed by - Vikas Yadav
Follow @vikasonorous on Twitter
Publisher at Midgard Times