“Stuck in Love” wants to be a funny, warm family drama about love across generations. It mostly succeeds at being a mess.
Josh Boone directs and writes his own script here, and the movie follows the Borgens family through one turbulent year. Bill Borgens, played by Greg Kinnear, is a writer who still loves his ex-wife Erica, played by Jennifer Connelly. Their kids are Samantha “Sam,” played by Lily Collins, and Rusty, played by Nat Wolff. Sam is cynical about romance, while Rusty is secretly in love with his classmate Kate, played by Liana Liberato.
The film is built around the idea that love comes in different shapes and sizes, and it tracks how each character handles it. Bill watches Erica and her new husband Martin from afar while jogging. Sam dates a guy named Lou, played by Logan Lerman, and has to admit she likes him despite her fear of commitment. Rusty gets caught sneaking into Kate’s house and eventually admits his feelings.
The problem is that the movie never decides what kind of story it wants to be. It moves between comedy, drama, and romance without settling on a tone. That shift makes the film feel less like a cohesive story and more like a series of sketches.
The acting holds the film together. Kinnear and Connelly play a marriage that ended badly but still carries warmth. Collins and Wolff both bring youthful energy to their roles. Logan Lerman shows range as the quiet Lou, whose song “Between the Bars” by Elliott Smith becomes a recurring touchstone for Sam’s fear of getting hurt.
The film also leans on a voiceover from Stephen King as himself, a framing device that feels more gimmicky than useful. Other supporting players include Kristen Bell, Spencer Breslin, Patrick Schwarzenegger, Rusty Joiner, Barbara Weetman, and a brief cameo from King.
“A story about first loves and second chances.”
That tagline captures the aim, even if the execution doesn’t quite land. The film tries to cover too much ground — Bill’s lingering love, Sam’s first novel, Rusty’s secret crush, and the family’s holiday dinners — and none of it gets the room it needs.
What works best is the quiet stuff: Sam’s nervousness around Lou, Rusty’s panic at admitting his feelings for Kate, Bill’s genuine pride in Sam’s novel. Those moments have real feeling. The broader comedy and melodrama surrounding them often tip into excess.
“Stuck in Love” is a sincere attempt at a family story with heart. It just can’t decide whether that heart belongs in a comedy or a drama, and the result is a film that’s easy to enjoy in patches but hard to recommend as a whole. The cast is strong enough to carry the weight of a script that doesn’t always know where it’s going.
Trailer, via Millennium Entertainment.
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