The Love Punch

Some of you may be familiar with the concept of diminished expectations; this is where you go into something, either by experience or word of mouth, with radically downsized expectations and so are able to tolerate the experience more. This is how I felt coming out of the Love Punch, having seen the critical savaging the film had received I was not exactly expecting a comedy classic (and let’s be quite clear it’s nowhere near that), but it is not a completely laugh- free film. It’s not like you get the sense that the filmmakers are taking it seriously themselves. As you watch ex- husband and wife Kate (Emma Thompson) and Richard (Pierce Brosnan) go from being cheated out of their pension fund to suddenly deciding to steal a jewel as revenge you find yourself going with it a lot more than you would think. Both Brosnan and Thompson seem to be well aware of the absurdities of the plot and so act accordingly with much overacting and mugging to the camera...which I would be lying if I said wasn’t enjoyable. As an aside one unintended laugh comes from the repeated line “we’ve nothing to lose except maybe our dignity” (I’ve heard you sing Pierce I don’t think dignity is a concern). Predictably the film falls apart towards the end with contrivances coming thick and fast, by this point the filmmakers seem to have fooled themselves into thinking that this ludicrous comedy, in which Brosnan dons a cowboy hat and fake moustache can somehow hold our attention, with a serious romance plot. This not only saps the finale of laughs but forces it run an extra very unneeded ten minutes. FINAL VERDICT 5/10 enjoyable rubbish that had potential to be more.

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