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A foreign locale, two individuals at a crossroads… on the surface, the Netflix film Lonely Planet had the right ingredients. But the Susannah Grant film does nothing with it. Starring Laura Dern as an established writer and Liam Hemsworth as a finance guy who meet at a retreat in Morocco, the film wastes our time with their ineffectual romance. It ends up being a tourism guide for the country.
Lonely Planet Movie Review: Plot
Dern is Katherine Loewe, who attends the Morocco retreat to finish upcoming book in peace. Hemsworth is Owen, who tags along to support his writer girlfriend Lily (Diana Silvers) after the success of her first book. Katherine and Owen meet and strike up an odd friendship as they divulge secrets about their lives. Their connection gets romantic, but there seems to be something missing between them.
Lonely Planet Review: Writing and Direction
Susannah Grant has a fantastic filmography behind her, having written screenplays for Ever After, Erin Brockovich and directing the harrowing limited series Unbelievable for Netflix. Her previous credit as writer-director was Catch and Release starring Jennifer Garner was rather underappreciated. This effort, however, is a massive disappointment as nothing seems to click between the story or the characters. You’ll find yourself asking why at several moments.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTu7j2GOGwQ
Lonely Planet Movie Review: Performances
Dern and Hemsworth are not bad in the film. It’s just that the romance feels forced between the two of them. As soon as Owen meets Katherine, the cracks between him and Lily develop awkwardly. Furthermore, both lead characters are underdeveloped. Their resolution towards the finale also comes out of nowhere.
Lonely Planet Review: Critique
As a narrative, Lonely Planet just meanders all over the place. There are pretty locations to look at for much of the film but Lonely Planet doesn’t have much going for it besides that. Unfortunately, this is an automatic skip despite the promising pairing.