‘Love Again’: Critics and audiences clash over Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Sam Heughan rom-com

Vincent Mandile
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On May 5, 2023, Sony Pictures released “Love Again” starring Sam Heughan and Priyanka Chopra Jonas in the romantic comedy. A young woman (Chopra Jonas) tries to ease the pain of her fiancé’s death by sending romantic texts to his old cell phone number, and forms a connection with the man the number has been reassigned to (Heughan). The ensemble cast includes Grammy winner Celine Dion, Russell Tovey, Steve Oram, Omid Djalili, and Lydia West.

While critics have widely panned the film, landing it at a paltry 22% on Rotten Tomatoes from 23 reviews, audiences are swooning, with over 250 everyday movie-goers putting it at a 92% fresh audience score. So what’s causing this clash? Read our full review round-up below.

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Avi Offer of NYC Movie Guru praises the film, noting, “Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Sam Heughan have palpable chemistry which helps you to want Mira and Rob to end up together. Chemistry is everything in a romcom, so kudos to the casting director and Jim Strouse for selecting romantic leads who are very charismatic. The supporting actors and actresses are also terrific including Celia Imrie, who makes the most out of her few scenes, Omid Djalili, and Steve Oram who has a hilarious scene as Rob’s editor. Then there’s the wonderful music by Celine Dion including some of her new songs. At a running time of 1 hour and 44 minutes, ‘Love Again’ is a heartwarming, tender and witty romantic comedy. If you enjoy 90’s romcoms like ‘You’ve Got Mail’ and ‘While You Were Sleeping,’ you’ll probably enjoy ‘Love Again,’ too.”

Mark Dujsik of Mark Reviews Movies notes, “So many things go wrong with ‘Love Again,’ almost immediately from the start, that it’s quite the struggle to figure out if anything actually goes right within this wholly predictable and occasionally creepy attempt at a romantic story. There’s at least a little bit of chemistry between the two leads, and while that would usually be something, it’s beside the point in this movie. The setup of the central relationship is simply too contrived and discomforting to care if the actors seem as if they’re having fun playing at falling in love.”

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Travis Hopson of Punch Drunk Critics writes, “Let me preface this by saying that I’m a big fan of writer/director James C. Strouse. Two of his previous films, ‘The Incredible Jessica James’ and ‘People Places Things,’ both featuring Jessica Williams, are wonderful blends of humor and heart about the way that love can sneak up on you when least expected. His latest, the wildly absurd, Celine Dion worship spectacle ‘Love Again’ sorta follows the same idea. Um, love definitely comes out of nowhere, that’s for sure. It’s a film so bizarre in so many ways that you almost want to like it for being so strange, and for giving us the undeniably stunning sight of Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Sam Heughan in a game of pick-up basketball.”

Despite those tepid, or even scathing reviews, audiences are loving the film. A few verified ticket buyers wrote:

“I laughed. I cried. It’s not going to win any academy awards but it was a fun rom-com movie to see. My gal-pal and I both enjoyed it and it’s a movie I might even consider seeing a second time with my husband.” – Bev

“Fun romantic escape. Sam Heughan and Priyanka Chopra Jonas played with our hearts from cynical, resignation, to hopeful, you just wanted to cheer them on. And Celine as love guru – using her lyrics says it all. Go see ‘Love Again’ to lift your spirits.” – V

“This was such a good movie. I really enjoyed it. It even made me cry. Definitely a movie for saps who love a good romance movie.” – Ashley

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