"I could hear my heart beating. I could hear everyone's heart. I could hear the human noise we sat there making, not one of us moving, not even when the room went dark."
— The closing words of Raymond Carver's What We Talk About When We Talk About Love, quoted several times in the film
Stuck in Love is a 2012 American romantic dramedy film written and directed by Josh Boone in his directorial debut, and starring Greg Kinnear, Jennifer Connelly, Lily Collins, Logan Lerman, Nat Wolff, and Kristen Bell.
The film focuses on the somewhat dysfunctional Borgens family in the wake of the parents' divorce. Bill (Kinnear) is a successful writer, and his children, Samantha (Collins) and Rusty (Wolff), both seem to walk in his professional footsteps. Meanwhile, Erica (Connelly) is attempting to reconnect with Samantha, who is reluctantly falling for a fellow writer and student, Louis (Lerman).
The film premiered on September 9, 2012 at Toronto International Film Festival, and later had a limited theatrical release in the US on July 5, 2013.
This movie provides examples of:
- All Girls Want Bad Boys: Subverted twice. Both Samantha and Kate end up breaking their previous pattern with Louis and Rusty, respectively.
- All Women Are Lustful: Almost every sexual encounter seen or mentioned in the film is initiated by the woman.
- Aloof Dark-Haired Girl: Samantha, though it seems at least some of it is an act.
- Always Someone Better: Rusty and Samantha are quite close, but it's clear that Rusty feels somewhat threatened by her literary success at a young age.
- Brooding Boy, Gentle Girl: Inverted with gentle Rusty and brooding Kate.
- Cool Big Sis: Sam encourages Rusty to have sex and enjoy some weed.
- Commonality Connection: Even though Sam is quite mean to Louis at first, they eventually bond over their taste in literature.
- Daddy's Girl: Sam is a chip off the old block (though she does have a Strong Family Resemblance to her mother).
- Deadpan Snarker: Samantha and Tricia.
- Defrosting Ice Queen: Sam, especially towards Louis (but eventually also toward her mother).
- Divorce Is Temporary: Bill hopes so, and keeps waiting for Erica to come back. She eventually does.
- Dogged Nice Guy: Rusty for Kate, Louis for Samantha. Also, to a certain extent, Bill for Erica though some would argue he is really not that nice, having cheated on Erica.
- Do You Want to Copulate?: Sam casually offers to have sex with a guy near the beginning of the film, saying they should just skip past the flirting etc. He quickly accepts.
- Ethical Slut: Samantha. She, and her father, both attribute her penchant for one-night stands as living a full life worth writing about.
- Genius Book Club: Somewhat enforced in the Borgens family.
- Good Adultery, Bad Adultery: When Erica cheated on Bill or when Bill cheated on Erica it's bad, but Tricia's infidelity to her unseen husband is a non-issue.
- Good Bad Girl: Kate, the Hard-Drinking Party Girl with a heart of gold.
- Hollywood Atheist: Sam's an atheist who's something of a cynic, hedonist and nihilist (or an existentialist), but also a sweet girl overall who despite her beliefs thinks life is rich. The only character who dislikes her views is a creationist guy she chats about things with in a bar.
- Most Writers Are Writers: A severe case - most of the characters in the film are writers.
- Opposites Attract: Jaded-to-the-point-of-being-a-jerkass Sam and Nice Guy Louis who "reeks of romance and good intentions".
- Parental Hypocrisy: Inverted. Samantha is extremely judgmental of her mother's romantic choices, though she herself has very distinct issues in that department. Fittingly, as she lowers her guard and grows closer to Louis, she allows herself to eventually reconnect with her mother.
- Really Gets Around: Sam initially is seen and mentioned to be pretty promiscuous, casually offering sex to a guy toward the start, with it being said later that she has lots of one night stands. However, she gets into a serious relationship later on; it's somewhat implied this promiscuity was to fill a void.
- Shipper on Deck: Sam is really rooting for Kate and Rusty.
- Strong Family Resemblance: Sam looks a lot like her mother Erica. Both have the same hair color, eye color, similar eye shape, facial structure and dark, prominent eyebrows.
- Tomboyish Name: Most people call Samantha Sam, which fits her Lad-ette persona.
- Troubled, but Cute: Kate, Rusty's crush and eventual girlfriend.
