If your home is like mine, then at least one member of your household is rabidly awaiting today’s launch of HBO Max, the latest entry into the streaming television race. In our case, the wait is all for the return of Friends to a streaming platform. However, while they’ll be there for us, HBO Max offers new content that will prove of interest to many. Case in point, Anna Kendrick and Paul Feig, in a partnership with creator Sam Boyd, bring us Love Life, an unexpectedly sweet and honest exploration into love.
And, in doing so, they’ve given us what may well be the best Anna Kendrick performance to date.
Kendrick plays Darby, an art history major floating through life and boyfriends on a quest for love. But not just love. That description makes it sound like a vapid sitcom. It’s anything but that, thanks to smart writing and Kendrick’s winning performance. It’s sort of revolutionary that the series allows Darby to grow as a character, even as those around her fail to do so. It shows Darby living and learning from the many mistakes she makes in love and in life. And for that, it’s something of a beautiful little gem.
Sam Boyd’s creation doesn’t break any ground in terms of deep, meaningful revelations about life. But he’s given Kendrick a vehicle to channel her performance experience into a star vehicle worthy of her. By the end of the eight episodes given for press screening, Darby emerges as an independent woman, bruised by failures but increasingly tolerant of the failures of others. She confronts her self-absorbed mother (Hope Davis) in a rather childish way but uses the moment to be open and honest in a way she hadn’t before. She also recognizes a friend (Zoe Chao) in distress and offers tough love. Episode eight Darby approaches the end of the series a vastly different person than episode one. That’s the most refreshing aspect of Love Life.
HBO Max’s awards prospects on the series depend on final category placement. Love Life is marketed as an anthology series as each season will explore a different character. However, major outlets like Gold Derby and The Hollywood Reporter feature the series competing in the Comedy Series race. The strongest chance at a nomination, Kendrick’s chances feel definitely stronger in the Comedy Series races, particularly if HBO smartly campaigns her over Merritt Wever in HBO’s increasingly exhausting Run. Given the strong combination of her likability and great performance, Kendrick could emerge as a strong contender for a nomination. Plus, she doesn’t appear in the anticipated follow up season, so her performance is truly a one-and-done deal. In my opinion, that would classify it in the Limited Series races, but that’s TBD for now.
If she does receive attention in the Comedy Series race, then her presence will continue the argument about prestige channels taking slots from network comedies. There’s definitely something to be said about comparing a streaming 10-episode performance to that of a 20+ episode network performance. But what’s the solution? It would make no sense to further segment the Emmy categories by adding another layer of series 10 episodes and under. The Television Academy doesn’t seem to mind either as evidenced by last year’s Fleabag love fest. Also, streaming comedies tend to blur the lines between comedy and drama. They tend to offer their leads meatier (re: awards friendly) material with which traditional sitcoms really can’t compete. In my opinion, Love Life definitely lives more on the drama side of the dramedy equation.
HBO Max’s Love Life debuts today on the streaming service.
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