Josh Boone (director of “The Fault in Our Stars” and “Paper Towns”) presents viewers with a story of writers and their many inspirations in his debut film “Stuck in Love.”
It follows a family of novelists as their passions create or destroy their writing careers. Bill Borgens (Greg Kinnear), an award-winning author, went through a divorce that left him with writer’s block. His daughter, Amy (Lily Collins), is fueling her writing with disdain for her mother. The younger son, Rusty (Nat Wolff), cannot write anything substantial for lack of life experience. The story follows the family through a year of their lives while they all try their bests to put their experiences on paper. However, this semi-autobiographical film leaves much emotion to be desired.
“Stuck in Love” leaves you wondering what book this film was poorly adapted from. The answer is… all of them. This film excessively uses cliches to tell the tale. The subplots of the movie pose as an anthology to every romantic drama that has come before it, so you can experience them all in one neat package.
In addition, the film packs in as many literary references as possible, oftentimes misquoting icons such as Flannery O’Conner and Raymond Carver. “What We Talk About When We Talk About Love” is not a heartwarming tale about family dinner, but that does not stop this film from quoting it as a voiceover during the happy conclusion of the film.
All of that being said, this is a fun film. It is not a movie to be taken seriously, but the story, never mind a few holes in the plot, is entertaining enough to turn on during your next Netflix session.
