Three years past his divorce, veteran novelist Bill Borgens can’t stop obsessing over, let alone spying on, his ex-wife Erica, who ignominiously left him for another man. Even as his neighbour-with-benefits, Tricia, tries to push him back into the dating pool, he remains blind to anyone else¹s charms. Meanwhile, his fiercely independent collegiate daughter Samantha is publishing her first novel while recoiling at the very thought of first love with a diehard romantic; and his teen son Rusty is trying to find his voice, both as a fantasy writer and as the unexpected boyfriend of a dream girl with unsettlingly real problems. As each of these situations mounts into a tangled trio of romantic holiday crises, it brings the Borgens to surprising revelations about how endings become beginnings...

Mike Mogis and Nathaniel Walcott's score for Stuck in Love is a laid back offering that is perfect to play in the background while you're reading or just relaxing. For me though it wasn't really a score that I warmed to, or could engage with. I found it a little too light and directionless. There was no identity here; this is solely a score that's designed to sit quietly in the background and not get in the way of the onscreen action.

That's not to say that there aren't some enjoyable segments. 'Namedropping Brubaker' is a short, but interesting track, but I could have done without the cheesy Christmas themed 'Christmas Cookies (Deck The Halls)' which sounds like segments were conducted on an '80s Casio keyboard.

If you've seen the film, then you'll know what to expect. The album contains 21 tracks and lasts for 34 min, 03 sec.

5

Darren Rea