Love Language, directed and written by Joey Power, is an unexpectedly delightful romantic comedy that centers around a struggling writer named Lou (Chloë Grace Moretz) living in Chicago as she recovers from her broken engagement. After writing her best friend Tilda’s (Billie Lourd) vows, Lou finds herself in high demand for written vows for upcoming nuptials, so she begins taking on clients for this newly discovered skill of hers. While having a casual fling with Tilda’s cousin Dash (Anthony Ramos), Lou finds herself drawn back in by a former college friend named Warren (Manny Jacinto), whom she used to be in love with, as his fiancee (Isabel May) hires Lou to write her vows. Love Language takes the audience on a journey of modern dating with a more nuanced, to a degree, look at the struggles that people face when it comes to relationships in this new technological age.

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While the premise of Love Language can be a little bit hard to bring into the modern world in which it is set because I find it hard to believe that many people need help writing intimate and personal vows to the person that they want to spend forever with, I do believe that this film does bring something to the table in its ability to display the struggles of modern dating through the main character of Lou. She is recovering from a broken engagement, which makes her perspective one of a happy ever after right off the bat, and while that can get annoying at points in the film, that is what makes it realistic and great characterization. Lou is supposed to be hard to root for; she doesn’t know what she wants or who she wants to be, but by the end the audience sees her taking the steps to get there. My favorite scene in the whole film was when Tilda calls Lou out for her selfish behavior when she acts out after hearing the news of her close friend Gus’ (Lukas Gage) engagement because of how realistic it is to true friendship. Real friends will call you out when your behavior doesn’t align with the morals that you display around them, and Tilda does that in the toughest love way possible. Tilda makes Lou realize she needs to stop living in the past for the answers to her future, allowing herself to open up to the possibility of a real relationship with Dash.

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Another great aspect of this film was the cast because these are all well-accomplished actors. Everyone brought something to the table that showed me that each understood their character’s purpose in the story. Although a standout for me is Anthony Ramos as Dash, though not as much screen time as I thought he would have, he stole every single scene he was in with his effortless charisma and strangely funny rambles. His chemistry with Moretz allows me to believe in hope for their progressing relationship throughout the film, and their banter flows seamlessly so that it feels like I am glimpsing in on an actual couple in the early stages of their relationship. Moretz kills it in her own right with her portrayal of Lou; she isn’t perfect, but she is not trying to be. Moretz is able to portray her conflict between the past and the future so well that even as the viewer, I began to feel stressed. Billie Lourd was also a standout for me because of how well she can play comedic beats, and her line delivery always gets a chuckle out of me; she definitely is an actress that was born for the comedic genre. Manny Jacinto and Isabel May also hold their own in their performances, with both giving a surprising amount of depth for, frankly, a little shallowly-written characters.

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The weakest part of the film for me would have had to be the editing. As a viewer, I could tell where they cut some scenes out, and at the beginning there was one transition that actively took me out of the movie-watching experience because it was so jarring and confusing. Nevertheless, the editing got less noticeable as the film carried on, but I do feel as though the film could have been a bit more impactful with a fifteen minute longer runtime to get to connect with the characters a little more. I connected with Lou, the main character, which is the idea, but I also would have liked to feel some connection to the men that she was so torn over, even her ex-fiancé that ruined her concept of love I would have liked to have seen for more than just two scenes. I feel as though there were more easily accessible routes for deeper and meaningful characterization of all characters introduced that were not taken.

Love Language tells an unexpectedly delightful tale of modern romance and the issues it can conjure up in one’s own identity. It has something to say about the problems it brings but does not seem to quite finish the message.