Starting first with the rom, Addicted to You is a pretty typical romance. If you’re a fan of the genre or fairly intuitive, when it comes to guessing plots, the story is very predictable. But then again, the entire genre is by nature, predictable.
When you have a standard romance, it’s the comedy that is going to elevate it from the pack. That said, the comedy in Addicted to You is good, but there is this feeling I had after, that it could have been a lot better. I appreciate that the story centered itself on a sex-addicts group and did not go for a lot of the obvious jokes, but actually made an attempt to be smart, somewhat respectful, and thought-provoking in this setting.
Also good are the characters. As our leads Shane Hartline and Melissa Paulo are good rom-com leads as Luke and Kara. Handsome and hot, charismatic, and attractive—everything you need to root for and they are the most grounded roles to offset the film’s wacky supporting cast.
“…the story centered itself on a sex-addicts group and did not go for a lot of the obvious jokes…”
The supporting cast is actually not that bad…I’ve seen worse. Choni Francis, Cat Alter, and Garrett Mendez may not be the most original characters, but the actors make the most of their opportunities onscreen. They play the standard rom-com roles of crazy girlfriend and h***y roommates, but each is given chances to go into some comedic riffs, which are at times funny. There’s, of course, a weed moment when everyone goes into various celebrity impressions and I laughed.
I’m really on the fence about the comedy because, for me, not to be annoyed entirely by it is a good thing, but also shows the wasted potential of a cast that could genuinely pull it off. I also wished the jokes were worked over a lot more. Write, rewrite, and rewrite again. Rarely does a good comedy come out in the first or second draft. Good comedy is worked over to death and then rewritten. There are seeds of funny moments and not enough time was given for them to bloom.
Addicted to You is a good, not great rom-com. It fits the structure of the standard rom-com beautifully. I do appreciate the film’s attempt to find insight within the confines of a sex-addicts group. For the filmmakers, I would say you did an exceptional job meeting the requirements of a rom-com, now next time, find ways to transcend then genre.
"…a weed moment when everyone goes into various celebrity impressions..."
