Puppy Love

Directed by Nick Fabiano and Richard Alan Reid, Puppy Love follows Grant Gustin’s Max and Lucy Hale’s Nicole as they become involved after after her dog gets his dog pregnant. Filmmakers Fabiano and Reid, working from a script by Reid, Greg Glienna, Peter Stass, Kirsten Guenther, and Dan Scheinkman, deliver a paint-by-numbers yet surprisingly enjoyable romantic comedy that benefits from its easygoing atmosphere and charismatic performances, although it’s equally clear, certainly, that the picture, which suffers from a pervasively low-rent visual sensibility, gets off to a less-than-impressive start – with the initial arms-length atmosphere perpetuated by a reliance on far-from-spellbinding elements and attributes. There’s little doubt, then, that Puppy Love improves considerably once Gustin and Hale’s respective characters find themselves forced to spend time together, as the actors’ affable efforts are heightened by their palpable (and irresistible) chemistry with one another. (Gustin, in particular, offers up thoroughly agreeable and magnetic work that goes a long way towards smoothing over the narrative’s bumps and lulls.) And while the expected fake breakup lasts much longer than preferable, Puppy Love closes with an engaging final stretch that ultimately cements its place as a better-than-expected romcom.

*** out of ****