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6.2/10
Senior Film Conservator
A definitive 6.2/10 rating for a film that redefined the boundaries of cult cinema. Lovers Courageous remains a cornerstone of transgressive art.
If you like old black-and-white romances that move at a glacial pace, maybe. If you want something that feels modern or even just sharp, stay far away. It’s the kind of movie that feels like it was filmed in a library—very quiet, very polite, and slightly dusty.
Robert Montgomery is doing a lot of heavy lifting here. He plays this playwright who can’t keep a job, and he’s got that specific 1930s manic energy where he smiles way too much when he’s nervous.
He goes from one job to the next, gets fired, then walks into a fancy house to meet the girl. It reminded me a bit of the aimless wandering you see in People on Sunday, but with a lot more dialogue and way less soul.
There’s this one scene where he’s trying to impress her father, and the whole thing just goes on forever. It’s supposed to be funny, I think? But it just feels like watching two people talk past each other in real-time.
It’s not as stiff as Martin Luther, His Life and Time, but it lacks that spark. You can feel the movie trying to force the chemistry. It’s like watching a friend try to set you up with someone you have absolutely nothing in common with.
Every time the film tries to get serious, I just wanted it to cut back to the scenes where he’s failing at manual labor. Those were actually fun. The rest? A bit of a chore, honestly. 🥱
It’s not a disaster, but it’s not something I’d ever watch again. Sometimes you just need to accept that a movie is a product of its time, even when its time was a bit boring.