A still from Love, Guaranteed
Film: Love, Guaranteed
Director: Mark Steven Johnson
Cast: Rachael Leigh Cook, Damon Wayans Jr, Heather Graham
Gurnaaz Kaur
Susan Whitaker (Rachael Leigh Cook) is a lawyer and a moralist; good-willed, self-aware, kind and caring. She runs a boutique law firm with two employees and mostly fights pro bono cases, but is struggling to make ends meet. One day, her luck turns around when a handsome man, Nick Evans (Damon Wayans Jr), comes with a case – he wants to sue a dating website that guarantees love. Susan finds it unusual, but takes the case anyway because it can pay the bills and save her firm.This is the broad premise of Love, Guaranteed, a Netflix original.
Nick has been using dating app Love Guaranteed (owned by lifestyle guru Tamara Taylor, played by Heather Graham) and has so far gone on 986 dates. The website promises love within 1,000 dates! As she begins the case, Nick shares a dossier describing the red flags and quirks of all the women he has met through the dating app. It is hard for Susan to believe his claims and she thinks he is an opportunist, so decides to meet some of the women he went on a date with. Surprise, surprise! The women tell her what a gentleman Nick is; large-hearted, caring, kind, self-aware and honest. Susan has a change of heart. With the case getting stronger, Nick and Susan also start feeling strongly for each other. By now you must have already guessed the end!
So, let’s talk about the lead pair. Susan is a workaholic, orders Chinese food and stocks it for the whole week; week after week. She drives a vintage VW jalopy, named Zorro, whose music system is stuck playing Tiffany’s ‘I think we’re alone now’ on loop and at a high volume. The door handle of her car comes off every time she opens it! Despite these hiccups and being hard pressed for money, her world is near-perfect. She has a loving sister, who is her next-door neighbour. Her brother-in-law is very generous and doesn’t charge much rent. Her employees are willing to work overtime and weekends without batting an eyelid!
Nick is a former sportsman,who couldn’t pursue the game due to an injury. Being a compassionate soul, he now works as a trained physical therapist. If he wins the case, he wants to donate money to a children’s ward. Two perfect persons more like each other’s reflection!
Love, Guaranteed may be about overblown promises of a dating app, but it is an old-fashioned rom-com that will entertain you, make you laugh and then you’ll forget about it. In this fast-paced life, such short and sweet stories can serve as pleasant breaks.
