THE HATING GAME. Starring: Lucy Hale, and Austin Stowell. Also Sakina Jaffrey, and Damon Daunno. Directed by Peter Hutchings. Rated M (Sexual references, sex and coarse language). 98 min.
This is an American romance film, that is based on the best-selling novel of the same name authored by Canberran Sally Thorne in 2016, and directed by Peter Hutchins from a screenplay written by Christina Mengert.
Lucy Hutton (Hale) and Joshua Templeman (Stowell) are both New York City publishing assistants who are forced to work together in the same office following a merger, for financial reasons, of their respective publishing companies. Each desperately wants promotion to a position of greater leadership with their new employer.
Lucy prides herself on being loved by everyone in the company, and makes every effort to be likeable. One person, however, Joshua, is the exception. Josh is coldly efficient and intimidating, and he and Lucy become natural rivals when the chance of promotion for one of them comes through their managing directors. Lucy wants to project her competency without compromising her professional ethics, and decides on a game of rivalry with Josh to establish her supremacy. if she wins the game, she will end up being Josh’s boss; if she loses the game, she will resign. Josh agrees on the need for the loser to exit – one of them cannot end up managing the other. As the romantic attraction between them grows, Lucy questions her relationship with Josh. Her hate for him turns to something different, and romance blossoms. When this happens, professional interactions become mixed with sexual tension that complicates plans for promotion. They share similar ambition and intensity of drive, but have chosen different strategies to achieve the same end.
Stowell and Hale act ‘hate’ and ‘romantic attraction’ well. They effortlessly establish a natural chemistry in their interactions with each other, and their shifting relationship is well supported dramatically by sharp film scripting – especially, in the hate phase, where the comedy thrust of repartee best lies. The film could arouse different reactions, depending on the gender of the person the viewer identifies with. If it is with Lucy, one might ask what motives actually lie beneath smart feminine guile. If it is with Josh, one might query the depth of male manipulative scheming which he keeps resolutely in place until the end. Whatever the answers, Hutchings delivers an entertaining film, that is enjoyable in offering pleasurable romantic escape. The film demonstrates excellent comic timing between the two main players in both the hate and love phase of their off- and on-again work relationship.
This is a film with teenage appeal that doesn’t go deeply into gender politics, nor does it present likely scenarios in a city as racially diverse as New York. It focuses pointedly on romance between its two main characters, and provides a theme that is clearly intended to be unashamedly entertaining. The ‘enemies to lovers’ plot, with sex thrown in, is reinforced by the film’s trendy (pop) musical soundtrack.
There are not a lot of dramatic complications to how this film depicts sexual relationships, and this helps to sustain escapist appeal. The movie glides over the surface of a meaningful relationship in an entertaining way that holds its tension, and the film’s escapist appeal is tangibly aided by the affable chemistry established by Hale and Stowell, and the banter exchanges that reflect smart comic scripting. This is a movie to enjoy without being too reflective about how the relationship between the lovers will work out, post-romancing, when promotion is placed in one of their hands.
Rialto Distribution
Screening at Hoyts and other locations from 27 January 2022