If I had to pick just one celebrity out of all the ones in the universe, it would be Grant Gustin. It’s not only because he’s in my favorite TV show, but also because he’s just an all-around impeccable actor and has not been in just one, but now two movies related to dogs. And who doesn’t like dogs?
On Aug. 18 of this year, Puppy Love was released on Amazon Prime. It’s a film about Nicole (Lucy Hale) and Max (Grant Gustin), and it’s centered around how they met on a dating app called Bumble. What starts as a friendly date quickly escalates into an enemies-to-lovers trope and then later transforms into something the audience never would have expected.
The film first begins with a scene of Nicole on the phone with her best friend talking about her recent break up with Chaim (pronounced kai-um). What makes this scene hilarious is when Nicole calls her friend and says, “Whatever his name broke up with me.”
Even so, outside the realm of Nicole’s dating life, what Nicole does for a living is a position I have never seen anyone have: house-staging with wealthy clients. And despite the fact that Nicole no longer has a plus one to share her life with, she still finds a way to live a fulfilled life with her dog named Channing Tatum to keep her company.
“I’ve always just kind of been a worrier, but then I met a girl who didn’t really care about my issues.”
— Grant Gustin
Max, on the other hand, is the character that I feel I relate to more because of his inept personality and the way he lives his life. Most of Max’s days are spent working from home as a computer programmer because of his severe social anxiety which is why he has a therapist to help him through this struggle.
One of my favorite scenes occurs when Max is on the computer with his therapist, and his therapist mimics what he’s saying by using a technique called mirroring. Max is taken aback and then his therapist recommends he make an emotional connection with a dog. At this point in the movie, Max goes on to get a little furry friend.
But what makes these circumstances more questionable is the fact that he’s best friends with his boss Sid (Nore Davis) who pushes him to work in the office because otherwise he will fire him. However, even though Max’s social anxiety hinders his responsibility at his job, Max as a character definitely radiates the aura of an introvert and a germaphobe when it comes to anything and everything in life.
Yet it isn’t until Max and Nicole’s paths intertwine that everything falls into place.
After an accidental swipe right by Max’s stubborn yet adorable dog Chloe, he starts to freak out over the person he just matched with, but the interaction he has with his boss makes the scene a whole lot more comical. When Max shows Sid who he matched with on Bumble, Sid responds with, “She’s way out of your league bro,” and Max responds with, “Yes, thank you, I know that.”
But in spite of all of this, what I love most about Nicole and Max’s first encounter is that it’s so random. Even though the match was accidental, I feel as though they couldn’t be more of a perfect match for each other because they both counteract each other’s lifestyles perfectly.
To quote Gustin’s words exactly, “I’ve always just kind of been a worrier, but then I met a girl who didn’t really care about my issues.”
All things considered, when I found out that Gustin was yet again in a puppy film, I was excited to see him in a film outside of The Flash and was counting down the days until the film was officially released.
