In its cursory look at love’s many stages in New York City life, Love Etc. manages to hit on a few decent points within its otherwise empty premise. The notion of examining love from different angles and attitudes holds merit, but most of the examples captured herein just aren’t very compelling. Had Love Etc. pared down its focus to concentrate on the two stories that really had some weight due to their political and medical relevance to major issues today then it would have gone a lot further and offered up a more emotionally resonant experience. As is, Love Etc. is three lackluster, superficial stories devoid of any depth buoyed by two others that could have been films unto themselves.
Crossing through New York’s five boroughs, Love Etc.’s vantage point offers candid views into five different relationships. Gabriel and Danielle, two high school students in SoHo, get their first taste of love and learn that as people age they value different things in a partner, and that very rarely does anyone get it right the first time through. Chitra and Mahendra, a couple in Queens in their second year of engagement, talk about their hopes and dreams and the ample opportunity they’ve had to become comfortable living with one another. Ethan, a divorced father of two, works construction by day and splits his evenings between parenting and searching for a second chance at love. Scott, a single gay man working on Broadway productions, struggles with finding a meaningful relationship but wants desperately to be a father and is awaiting the delivery of his twins born by a surrogate mother. Albert and Marion, aged 79 and 89 respectively, have led happy lives and cherish their memories together even as time begins to steal away Marion’s memory and awareness of who the man sleeping next to her is.
Each of the stories has its own significance within the framework of love, but the stories of Albert & Marion and Scott are clearly the filmmaker’s biggest success as the other three have very little filling them out. Even though the story of Chitra and Mahendra gets a fair amount of screen time, the theme of the importance of communication has been done countless times and this couple doesn’t offer any new insight into that point. Similarly, Gabriel and Danielle fall into the category of a theme done over and over: teen romance. The film’s audience knows the fleeting nature of young love and Love Etc., once again, fails to offer anything new to the conversation. Ethan’s story almost had enough substance thanks to the input of his two children who comment on what kind of relationship they hope their father finds and how his search affects them, but it can’t follow through and the story fizzles out.
By contrast, the two well formed threads in the documentary have enough elements to give the proceedings some emotional sway, whether it’s the bittersweet joy of a couple celebrating nearly half a century together or one man searching awaiting two different forms of companionship amidst the overflowing routine of his daily life. Albert and Marion have decades of stories to recount and can genuinely measure the evolution of their relationship its start as a musical partnership to their modern back-and-forth impaired by Marion’s erratic capacity to stay in touch with when and where she is. It’s sad and heartbreaking to see Albert deal with it, but the support he offers is a testament to the years of intimacy they’ve shared. Scott on the other hand longs for just that: intimacy. As the dedicated professional, he’s fallen in and out of love but has never found the man who mirrored his burning desire to have children. He still looks though, but in a few revealing scenes you hear him talk about how much harder he thinks it’ll be once he has kids, after all, the idea that people are scared off by the commitment required when dating a single parent rings true for heterosexuals and homosexuals alike.
Love Etc. unnecessarily dilutes its two strongest points with three lesser concepts which have been explored ad nauseum and with equal intelligence in reality television dating shows. The story of Scott is one that will become increasingly common in the years to come and for that it could easily have stood on its own merits of relevancy. The idea of how age affects love both beneficially and detrimentally also could fill an entire film’s runtime and then some, and so it’s unfortunate to see it trimmed down to a barebones story in order to make room for three stories that go nowhere and have little new to say on their respective subjects.
"Love Etc." opens July 1, 2011 and is not rated. Documentary. Directed by Jill Andresevic.
