Review of Hateship Loveship (2014) by Frances H — 26 Sep 2015

Johanna Parry (Kristen Wiig) moves to a new town to work as a housekeeper for Mr. McCauley (Nick Nolte), an elderly man who needs help keeping house, and to be a caretaker for McCauley's granddaughter, Sabitha (Hailee Steinfeld). She meets Sabitha's father and McCauley's son-in-law, Ken (Guy Pearce), who does not live with Sabitha or McCauley, but instead resides in Chicago. Sabitha's best friend, Edith (Sami Gayle), tells Johanna that Ken's wife died several years ago. After inviting Johanna and Sabitha to dinner, Ken writes a friendly note to Johanna, which his daughter delivers. Johanna writes a response letter and Sabitha's friend Edith offers to take it to the post office and mail it. Instead, she intercepts the letter and as a cruel joke, the two teenagers forge a love note from Ken, addressed to Johanna. Then they set up a fake email account for Ken. They impersonate him, responding to love emails from Johanna. "Ken" calls her "my only friend". But trust must be evaluated when "Ken" asks Johanna to visit him in Chicago, and she finds out the truth about the man she has fallen in love with...

"Hateship Loveship" is a slowpaced film and somewhat focused on more or less unlikable characters. We are used to see Kristen Wiig in comic shapes and characters while in "Hateship Loveship" she is low key, domesticated, quiet and frustratingly "meaningless" as Johanna, even if she carries a strong will. She tries to show her versatility as an actress here, but she is simply better at comedy than drama in my point of view as she ends up just "staring" at herself in an attempt to be dramatic. Guy Pierce plays an unlikable character, but is solid in his performance and so is veteran actor Nick Nolte. Hailee Steinfeld and the cute Sami Gayle delivers solid performances as Sabitha and Edith. The red thread is that love can attract very different people to each other. Forgiveness is another topic in the film and always try to expect the best in other people without judging them for their actions. "Hateship Loveship" is ok, but doesn´t reach any indie heights in my book.