NO STRANGER THAN LOVE REVIEWED
“No Stranger Than Love” is a rather thin romantic comedy based on the local community’s desire for Alison Brie. While the Brie attraction isn’t out of the norm, that magical Warner Brothers bottomless portal might tug on your brain. This giant black portal opens in the middle of Brie’s living room and swallows her married lover. The poor guy is still alive in the inky void, but no one has any idea how to rescue him. That’s when third lead shows up to test Brie’s romantic attraction to black hole man.
The film wants to fight against being a romantic comedy. But, giving itself over to some sort of structure could’ve only saved the story. The third act is a complete mess, as Chatwin vanishes for some reason. Seriously, guys. I rewatched the movie three times to make sense of why he just dropped off the surface of the Earth. For a movie where that disappearing act is a big part of the narrative, it started to eat away at the nature of the film. Still, Alison Brie spends a chunk of the time in her underwear. Her lovely, lovely underwear.
Alison Brie is charming enough to carry this story after a few rewrites. As it stands, I kept trying to find out if the film was meant to be part of a larger TV project. It feels like a major salvage of an abandoned TV pilot. Every viewing of the film led me to believe that I was missing something. That is going to irritate a ton of potential viewers, but I recommend letting it slide a little. Give it a chance, but don’t expect much.