Reviewed by Rama Gaind.
Writer/director: Eric C. Nash, Pivot Pictures.
Love You Like That is a simple story of heart, trust, love and friendship and – ultimately – about one small town coming together.
A stereotypical cheesy romantic comedy, on the surface, but scratch the exterior and you’ll find the film doesn’t become a hackneyed theme. Big secrets are revealed during the course of one eventful day that makes this a fabled event changing everyone’s life forever.
A small word – love – but it has boundless connotations and it literally makes the world go round! At least, that is the case in the coastal town of Seafront Sands where love is in the air – in more ways than one!
There’s a lot going on around the seemingly happy townsfolk as it’s the celebration day of Seafront Sands’ Bicentennial, all the while, developers are circling.
After a young woman Mim (Allira Jaques, Daddy’s Little Girl) mysteriously appears washed up ‘starkers’ on Mim Beach, the sleepy town goes into a tailspin. She has a profound effect on everyone she comes into contact with: a hard-as-nails local council woman (played by Barbara Hastings); her retired Naval Captain brother (John Jarratt, Wolf Creek); a grieving widow (Clare Griggs) running the local café; a sensitive policeman Mitch (John Harding, The Crossing) who is afraid to pop the question; and Harrison (Mitchell Hope, Descendants), a handsome young man who runs a dating agency with his sassy assistant, Emily (played by comedian Steph Tisdell in her first feature performance). Filled with some uplifting performances, this Australian film also stars Jacob Barn as Officer Doug who falls under Emily’s bewitching spell.
Mim, the goddess of eternal youth, tells it like it is: there are many forms of love, and they should be natural and effortless. “Love in its purest form is ugly, mean, it’s sad, aching. If you have fear, deal with it. Real love is not about compliments or forget-me-not letters, it’s about challenging each other, the good and the bad.”
Eric C. Nash is an impressive debut writer/director. There’s an ethereal quality to this feel-good film which is heightened with a special (in cameo) performance by John Paul Young of his 1977 worldwide hit Love Is In The Air.
Cupid’s arrow does find its mark!
Love You Like That has been released digitally.
