The Pointer UW-Stevens Point Student Newspaper
Grace Ebert
geber176@uwsp.edu
“Stuck in Love” (2012), written and directed by Josh Boone, chronicles one turbulent year in the lives of a fractured family.
Bill Borgens (Greg Kinnear) is a published author and PEN/Faulkner Award winner unable to cope with his divorce from ex-wife Erica (Jennifer Connelly). Their children, Sam (Lily Collins) and Rusty (Nat Wolff), are emulating their father as emerging novelists.
Sam and Rusty begin to worry about whether their father will ever date again when he is caught more than once spying outside of Erica and her new husband’s home. What is more disturbing is Bill hasn’t written a word in what seems like a lifetime.
Photo courtesy of stuckinlovemovie.com
In an attempt to help Bill move on, his seductive neighbor Tricia (Kristen Bell) coaxes him to date again. Even after his first date, Bill is still unable to shed his hopes of reviving his failed marriage.
Sam, a recently published writer and cynical college student, is adamant about not falling in love after witnessing her mother’s apathetic attitude toward her former marriage. Sam has dealt with her father’s heartbreak for nearly three years and refuses to ever put herself through that.
She hastily refuses any guy with romantic notions and instead has no-fuss one night stands, which is the subject of her newly published racy novel.
However, after Sam finally acknowledges a sincere classmate and accepts his offer to have coffee, she realizes that love might be worth knowing after all.
While trying to pursue a career in fantasy writing, Rusty, a Stephen King-loving high school teenager, begins a relationship with the pretty girl he has been admiring in his English class. Although the two are undoubtedly compatible, Kate suffers from drug addiction, which proves to be problematic in their relationship.
What appears to be the secret to their writing successes, however, is the presence of love. Bill, Sam and Rusty each rely on love as inspiration.
Although at times “Stuck in Love” is exceptionally sentimental and fairly predictable, this slightly corny romantic comedy is something to be seen.
