NINA BANKS
campus editor
nina.banks@my.tccd.edu
Since the dawn of time, I have had a crush on Grant Gustin. And by the dawn of time, I mean when the pilot episode of “The Flash” aired on TV for the first time.
Not only am I a long time fan of Gustin, but also of Lucy Hale. She starred in a movie called “A Cinderella Story: Once Upon a Song,” which is probably the 500th retelling of Cinderella, but my personal favorite. Since then, I have watched her shows “Life Sentence” and “Katy Keene,” a Riverdale spinoff.
So if you could imagine the pure excitement I felt when I heard Gustin was starring in a romcom opposite Hale. I was ecstatic.
“Puppy Love” is a romantic comedy which follows the story of Max, played by Gustin, and Nicole, played by Hale. Unlike other romance movies, we also see the love story between their two dogs.
Max is a 30 something year old man riddled with social anxiety and has musical aspirations. Nicole is the complete opposite. She embraces risk and spontaneity, but has a hard time opening up to others after the death of her dad.
After a first date which leads to Nicole’s dog impregnating Max’s dog, they decide to never talk to one another. However, the dogs’ love for one another reunites them, and they decide to keep the dogs together. For the kids of course.
One eviction note later, Nicole ends up at Max’s house and we enter the forced proximity trope. Shenanigans and clashing personalities ensue and the two have conflict, but ultimately come back in the end and become an adorable couple.
For a straight to streaming service romcom, it wasn’t awful. My only qualm with the movie was Nicole.
As someone who is Max adjacent in personality, Nicole is up there in what I would consider to be a bad partner.
She committed three major red flags in the movie which I would absolutely consider grounds for breaking up.
One, after Max invited Nicole to stay at his apartment after her eviction while she finds a place to stay, she dumps all her things in his living room. At this point, Nicole is aware that messes make Max anxious, and also it’s just houseguest 101 that you don’t dump your stuff everywhere.
Two, after Max is vulnerable and opens up about his desire to play music, he asks her about her art, to which she is immediately dismissive and rude about.
And three, and the worst one by far, was when Nicole brought home a guy to hookup with at Max’s apartment after the two got into a fight. The guy she brought to hookup with then left the door open, leaving Chloe to run away.
Max on the other hand must have the patience of a kindergarten teacher because I would’ve been out on strike one. Somehow after the third offense they reconciled and moved in together.
Don’t get me wrong, being vulnerable especially after a traumatic event like Nicole went through is extremely difficult and takes work. Her art is a sore spot as she quit to care for her dad prior to his passing. However, her standoffishness comes to the detriment of everyone around her.
Her inability to communicate her feelings to Max ultimately led to the argument and her bringing a guy over, which she knew would hurt Max. Emotional immaturity can be somewhat excusable when you’re a teenager grappling hormones, but as a 30 year old woman, it becomes destructive not only to yourself, but others around you.
If you enjoy miscommunication and jokes about female dogs, “Puppy Love” is the movie for you.
