The Hating Game

Directed by Peter Hutchings, The Hating Game follows publishing rivals Lucy (Lucy Hale) and Josh (Austin Stowell) as they’re forced to work together after their respective companies merge – with romance eventually (and inevitably) ensuing between the two figures. It’s a reasonable premise that is, for the most part, employed to tedious and uninvolving effect by Hutchings, as the filmmaker, working from Christina Mengert’s screenplay, delivers a flat romcom that remains hopelessly unable to capture the viewer’s interest and attention even fleetingly – with the arms-length atmosphere compounded by a perpetually low-rent atmosphere and lead performances of a decidedly less-than-spellbinding nature. (The latter is particularly true of Stowell’s competent yet frustratingly bland and inert turn as the thoroughly unlikeable Josh.) There’s little doubt, as well, that the lack of forward momentum ensures that the stultifyingly tiresome midsection just feels endless, and it’s clear, too, that the protracted third-act fake breakup does little to alleviate the predominantly irrelevant and pointless vibe – with the end result a disastrously ill-conceived romantic comedy that feels much, much longer than its 102 minutes.

* out of ****