The Lovebirds

The first 2/3rds of “The Lovebirds” is a series of comedy riffs.

Here’s a bit about reality shows set in a bickering couple’s bedroom. And then here’s a bit about milkshakes set in a restaurant (the setting makes senses on that one but the conversation has no bearing on the story). It’s like “Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee”–only here, the comedians think they’ve been accused of murder.

The film finds its footing in the last act when the two stars (Issa Rae and Kumail Nanjiani) start working together to get out of their predicament. They have chemistry and the movie would have been better off if it had dropped the “we’re breaking up” plotline and allowed these two charismatic and funny performers to navigate, as a team, through ever-increasing absurdity.