Love Don't Cost A Thing Review
by Bob Bloom (bobbloom AT iquest DOT net)December 12th, 2003
LOVE DON'T COST A THING (2003) 2 stars out of 4. Starring Nick Cannon, Christina Millian, Kenan Thompson, Kal Penn and Steve Harvey. Music supervisor Michael McQuarn. Based upon a screenplay, "Can't Buy Me Love," by Michael Swerdlick. Screenplay by Troy Beyer and Michael Swerdlick. Directed by Troy Beyer. Rated PG-13. Running time: 105 mins.
If Love Don't Cost A Thing looks and sounds familiar, don't worry, you're not trippin'.
This uneven teen romance is a remake of a 1987 film, Can't Buy Me Love, and the script is credited to that film's writer, Michael Swerdlick, as well as the director of this new version, Troy Beyer.
Love Don't Cost A Thing offers some nice cinematic moments, yet on the whole, the film is cliche-ridden and formulaic. Perhaps because the only real change in the storyline was substituting black actors in the leading roles for white ones and adding a hip-hop soundtrack.
One reason the movie seems so artificial is because, being a remake, the element of anticipation is missing.
Nick Cannon plays Alvin Johnson, a geeky student, but an engineering genius, who wants to get in with elite, popular crowd. His chance comes when of the girls in that group, Paris (the luminescent Christina Millian), has an accident in her mother's car and Alvin offers to make the repairs.
His price: Paris must pretend to be his girlfriend for two weeks.
If you've seen the original, there's no need to go any further. You know what happens.
Cannon is winning as Alvin. The young man who starred earlier in the year in Drumline, is a personable actor, but he is rather stilted in the comedy scenes where he tries behaving like a player.
Millian's beauty ensnares you and glues you to the screen.
But for the most part, the characters and situations are stock and cliched.
Steve Harvey, as Alvin's father, nearly steals the picture as the former high school big shot who can't understand why his son is unable to follow in his footsteps.
The right-of-passage scene between Harvey and Cannon brings down the house. Unfortunately, such moments are too infrequent to sustain this comedy.
The idea of remaking and remolding Can't Buy Me Love had some merit, but the execution hits short of the mark.
Even at 105 minutes Love Don't Cost A Thing drags. It's an OK date movie, but don't expect any fireworks.
Bob Bloom is the film critic at the Journal and Courier in Lafayette, IN. He can be reached by e-mail at [email protected] or at [email protected]. Other reviews by Bloom can be found at www.jconline.com by clicking on movies.
Bloom's reviews also appear on the Web at the Rottentomatoes Web site, www.rottentomatoes.com and at the Internet Movie Database:
http://www.imdb.com/M/reviews_by?Bob+Bloom
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