A/N: This review will contain some spoiler information regarding the book as well as mentions of the differences between book and movie. Do not read if you do not like spoilers.
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Almost as soon as I finished writing the review for The Love Hypothesis book, I was on Prime getting ready to watch the new film adaptation, despite the fact it was something like 11pm. I did end up watching the movie in two sittings because my ADHD meds had long run out and I couldn’t focus long enough on the movie despite enjoying the hell out of it.
The movie did make a fair amount of changes. I feel like it is necessary to be upfront about that. Some changes made sense, like making Anh figure out the ruse on her own because, hello, she’s a genius scientist badass. But others, like giving Adam the line telling Olive to display the confidence of a mediocre white man, did not. (That particular change annoyed me because it took the cool quip from a strong woman character and gave it to a man, which detracts from its message, at least to me) But, all in all, a lot of the changes made sense for a movie adaptation and time constraints. Unfortunately, one of my favorite characters, Dr. Holden Rodriguez, was missing from the movie entirely and that bummed me out because I feel like he was a nice fit into the story. Again, however, I do understand that Holden’s character and the accompanying story arc of his relationship with Malcolm would add extra time to a time-constrained project so I do get the reason for the change, but I am still a tad disappointed.
I thought Lili Reinhart did a great job capturing the essence of Olive. She melded into the character well and really seemed to embody Olive. Tom Bateman did a great job portraying Adam’s awkwardness and sternness as well but I really feel like I missed out on the yearning that Adam has become well-known for as a character, but I think that is more due to the fact that we see everything from Olive’s perspective in the movie and Adam doesn’t get as much screentime. I also LOVED that Adam was played by an actor who is of the correct age instead of a mid 20-something. Something about that scratched my brain the right way. My favorite portrayal, however, is neither that of Olive nor Adam but Anh. Rachel Marsh did an incredible job portraying Anh and honestly, she stole the show. She was snarky and sweet but a real badass powerhouse that fit Anh’s character well. Jaboukie Young-White likewise did his rendition of Malcolm justice; I just wish that we had gotten more of his story as well as his relationship with Holden. Still, the actors were fantastic and as an ensemble they really pulled off their characters.
I think one of my favorite things about the movie was how well it played up the awkwardness of how Olive and Adam interacted while pretending to be dating. While I think it could have done with a smidge more chemistry, because the awkwardness did detract from the chemistry that Reinhart and Bateman had, the awkwardness did provide a great amount of amusement, especially in the beginning. I just would have loved to see more of their Wednesday coffee dates as things transformed from awkward to comfortable to loving. Just a little more time before the conference was needed, I think, to show that they really had progressed to a comfortable and loving relationship, whether they knew it or not. Still, it was a fun movie and I enjoyed the antics.
All in all, it was a great adaptation, once you get past the changes made – but that is the same with any adaptation, I think. You have to realize each time that 100% accurate adaptations are impossible when movies follow time constraints. That said, I think that it would have been super cute as a limited series. But what is, is and the movie is a great adaptation. I really enjoyed it and will definitely be watching it again. If you loved The Love Hypothesis, give the movie a shot and let me know what you think!
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