Maybe It's Love: A Depression-era headache

Is it worth your time?

If you have a soft spot for 1930s chatter and people yelling about grocery bills, sure. If you hate movies where the conflict could be solved by one person actually listening to the other, stay away. It’s definitely for the folks who like their rom-coms with a side of economic anxiety.

Honestly, the whole thing feels like a stage play that someone accidentally dragged in front of a camera. The sets look like they might tip over if someone sneezes too hard. But there’s a weird, frantic energy to the way they argue about money that feels surprisingly relatable, even now.

The vibe

There’s this one scene where they’re trying to budget their food, and the way they stare at a single egg is just too much. It’s like, we get it, you’re poor. But the acting is so earnest that you can’t help but smile, even if it’s a bit of a pity smile.

I found myself zoning out during the long dialogue patches. They just talk and talk without actually doing anything. It reminds me a bit of the pacing in The Truant Soul, where you’re just waiting for someone to trip over a chair or break a vase just to spice things up.

Odd little details

• The background extras in the street scenes look like they’re waiting for a bus that’s never coming.
• The lead guy’s tie is always slightly crooked. It’s distracting.
• There is a dog that appears for about three seconds and then just vanishes from the script entirely. Where did he go?

It’s not a masterpiece, and it’s certainly not going to win any awards for realism. But it has this scrappy, desperate charm that I kinda dug. It’s not as dark as Siege, but it definitely captures that feeling of 'everything is going wrong and I’m just trying to keep my shirt clean.'

Sometimes the movie gets noticeably better when it stops trying to be a romantic drama and just lets the characters be absolute idiots. That’s when the spark is there. When they’re being serious, though? Yikes. It gets dry fast.

Anyway, watch it if you want to see how they did 'struggling couple' tropes before they became boring. It’s an uneven ride, but hey, that’s life, right? ☕