“Life is happening for us.” That’s a quote from 2 Hearts, a romantic drama that piles on so much syrupy sentimentality that once it’s over you may end up with the cinematic equivalent of Type 2 Diabetes.
Based on a true story of two couples from different periods in time, one story deals with a Cuban businessman (Adan Canto) falling in love with a flight attendant (Radha Mitchell). He always tries to find out her schedule and makes appointments to see her once she lands in her given destination. You can pretty much tell where it’s going from there.
The second relationship deals with two college students (Jacob Elordi and Tiera Skovbye) who start out meeting coincidentally, but they end up getting to know each other and are even a part of their campus’ safety patrol, giving people rides back to their dorm rooms.
The relationships are pretty straightforward and their interconnect by having the males in each story suffer from a health condition that threatens to end their heavens on earth. One of the stories throws in a plot twist so infuriating that it makes you want to head for the exit and keep walking.
As I mentioned, 2 Hearts refuses to pull back on how sweet these relationships are and that wouldn’t bother me if the characters weren’t so bland and derivative from countless other romantic dramas. The plot developments seem straight out of a made-for-TV movie.
The movie is all about teaching that even under the worst of circumstances God has a plan. I give the filmmakers credit for not beating us over the head with a Bible with that theme, but the movie is so contrived that we can see how things are going to end that it’s another example of spoiling the ending before it’s over.
2 Hearts should also be called No-Brainer because that’s what this dopey romance sorely lacks.
Grade: D
(Rated PG-13 for brief strong language.)
