When it comes to rom-coms, I have relatively low standards. If I like the characters, I’ll sit through the kinds of meet cutes and breakup-makeup situations that might drive less tolerant viewers to cleanse themselves with an edgy horror flick. I don’t mind knowing that happiness is on the way and that love will at long last prevail.
To wit, the Amazon show “With Love,” which premiered earlier this month and is from Gloria Calderon Kellet (of the “One Day at a Time” reboot). In many ways, it’s a mediocre creation — predictable, obvious, and sappy, as it follows various members of the Diaz family of Portland, Ore., in their love relationships. It’s a five-episode series, and each episode falls on a holiday during the same year, beginning with Christmas Eve and ending with Dia de los Muertos. The relationships are on, then off, then on again — that’s the blueprint.
But I grew fond of the characters, most of them Latino, some of them LGBTQ, none of them quite as flat and cookie-cutter-ish as those you might find on Hallmark and Lifetime. Jorge Jr. (Mark Indelicato, from “Ugly Betty”) is adjusting to life with his new bisexual boyfriend; his sister Lily (Emeraude Toubia) is newly single and heading into something with Santiago (Rome Flynn); their parents (Constance Marie and Benito Martinez) may not be as happy as everyone thinks; and trans cousin Sol (Isis King) is having a workplace flirtation that may develop into something.
It’s all warm and filled with familial love, and even the trans story line is defined by happiness, not trauma. Reality? Bitterness? Loneliness? In “With Love,” they’re beside the point.
Matthew Gilbert can be reached at matthew.gilbert@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @MatthewGilbert.
"Love" - Google News
December 30, 2021 at 06:01AM
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Happy trumps sappy on Amazon’s ‘With Love’ - The Boston Globe
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