It doesn't really feel like it has a script. It feels like it has bullet points and these actors are going from bullet point to bullet point, improving the whole time.

| Original Score: C- | Jun 17, 2020

It's not terrible, but it's not terribly good, either.

| Jun 16, 2020

I'll take The Lovebirds as the representation progress it is, but I wish there was more to this than Rae's and Nanjiani's considerable-but not wholly redemptive-charm.

| Jun 5, 2020

Issa Rae and Kumail Nanjiani display expert timing as the unhappy couple caught up a deadly criminal case.

| Original Score: 3/4 | May 29, 2020

Rae and Nanjiani are charismatic stars whose rise has been nice to watch... Neither of them gets to be at their best.

| May 26, 2020

Fortunately, there's enough skill on display that The Lovebirds is still plenty enjoyable, as long as you don't think too hard about it.

| May 26, 2020

It belongs in that category of movies each should ask to be left out of any career achievement retrospective montages awaiting them down the road.

| May 26, 2020

The chemistry between stars Kumail Nanjiani and Issa Rae keeps the romantic comedy charming.

| May 26, 2020

It is unlikely to be remembered as anything more than a diversionary lark. But it does stand as a testament to the ways in which the right actors can elevate even the most lackluster of material.

| Original Score: 2/4 | May 26, 2020

This is exactly the kind of movie you want to watch on Netflix, an inoffensive, silly and riotous comedy with sharp dialogue, that comes in at a brisk 87 minutes.

| Original Score: 3/5 | May 25, 2020

This is a film designed to be watched while performing a menial task - folding the laundry or washing dishes.

| May 23, 2020

I rather enjoyed this zany film.

| May 22, 2020

The way The Lovebirds executes this old template is largely unremarkable, so the fact that it works anyway is a testament to its leads' star power, especially Rae's.

| May 22, 2020

The Lovebirds makes it the simplest thing in the world to just sit back and see what gem of observational humor might drop next from Nanjiani or Rae's lips, or admire just how cute they look together even when they're bruised and desperate.

| May 22, 2020

The joy of any by-the-numbers genre is in seeing how it's pulled off. Rae and Nanjiani are terrific comedians whose wisecracks and antics are thoroughly entertaining, so even if you know what the ending... will be, it's great fun watching them get there.

| Original Score: 3/5 | May 22, 2020

A comedy -- be that buddy or romantic, and The Lovebirds is sort of both -- is only as good as its leads. The genre is a chemistry game, and luckily both Rae and Nanjiani have it in spades.

| May 22, 2020

Without Rae and Nanjiani it wouldn't work as well as it does. Luckily, they're two lovebirds with a song worth singing.

| Original Score: B | May 22, 2020

The humor is meant to derive from how out of place these two are in this seedy milieu, but it is difficult to have a fish out of water comedy when all you have is a couple of empty hooks.

| Original Score: 1.5/4 | May 22, 2020

The Lovebirds had potential. Nanjiani and Rae were up to the challenge. Stilted direction, an endlessly talky script and imprecise editing left them performing without a net. Regardless, this talented duo should have a bright future.

| May 22, 2020

Nanjiani and Rae are funny and likable people who try very hard to bring some life to this enterprise... They're fun to watch, in a way, but you really wish they had something better to do.

| May 21, 2020