Summary
Liam Hemsworth and Laura Dern are convincing in their age-gap romance, but the film is dull and monotone.
Lonely Planet is an age-gap romance movie starring Liam Hemsworth and Laura Dern as the leads. And to be honest, if I didn’t see the cast, I’d have probably avoided the movie, writing it off as the usual “will they? Won’t they?” feature that we’ve seen a thousand times before.
But with the two stars involved, why would I miss the opportunity to see where this goes? Laura Dern plays Katherine, a famous writer going through a breakup who decides to head to an elusive writer’s retreat in Morocco to get some peace to finish her new book. Liam Hemsworth plays Owen, a man who works in private equity and is supporting his girlfriend, Lily Kemp (played by Diana Silvers), who is also a writer, attending the same retreat.
As the film progresses, it’s evident that Katherine and Owen feel lonely in their respective worlds, hence the grand title of Lonely Planet. Katherine lacks inspiration, and Owen feels lost and unappreciated by his girlfriend. Both of them seemingly battle their inferiority complexes.
And with that, Owen and Katherine find the unlikeliest romance. Opposites in age and interests, both characters find common ground while enjoying what Morocco offers.
Like many romance movies, Lonely Planet is cliche, which is to be expected. However, it’s also monotone. I’m not entirely sure if Liam Hemsworth felt uninspired by his character or if his character was uninspiring, but Owen is extraordinarily dull and uncaring, giving the film no chance to spark to life.
(And I get it; some of us enjoy being “miserable” in our own way, but with Owen, it feels self-defeating. It’s almost as if he expected relationship problems with Lily before the retreat started).
The film expects the audience to feel sorry for Owen because Lily is unduly harsh on him and embarrassing, too. But their relationship feels over before the movie starts, and there are no resounding personality traits that leap out as special. The film also expects the audience to feel sorry for Katherine, too, but again, it’s hard to engage emotionally with a character whose only struggle is to finish her latest book and who does not seemingly want to be around people or care about her breakup.
The selling point is the chemistry between Liam Hemsworth and Laura Dern and the taboo feeling of the age-gap relationship. It works when the juices start flowing. When Katherine is inviting and lusting for the younger male figure, the film excels, especially when Owen desires a caring, almost “mother-like” figure. Maybe that’s a bad interpretation from my end, but at one point, Katherine calls Owen “kid,” which indicates a void in Owen’s love life. Despite being a strong man, he needs to be cared for by an experienced woman.
At least the film does not go down the troubling route of Anne Hathaway’s The Idea of You, which recklessly delivers an angle on age-gap relationships, needlessly.
But is the chemistry enough? Well, if you need a romance movie, Lonely Planet works to provide the usual genre beats. However, if you need a good film, then I’d leave this on the table.
