Films at their best: The Hating Game

Hello everyone and welcome back to my blog series. 

This week we will be diving an anticipated movie which was created based off of a trending novel called The Hating Game. 

Warning - Spoilers 

Plot 

Lucy and Josh are workmates who work in the same office space, directly opposite each other, after their publishing companies were merged. The pair hate each other and are both after the same promotion. They make a bet that whoever doesn't get it has to quit.

However, the pair become attracted to one another and share a kiss in the work elevator, before Lucy goes on a date with a co-worker called Danny. Lucy collapses at their company's paintball event and is taken home by Josh, who instructs his brother, Pat, to check on her.

Lucy offers to accompany Josh to his brother's wedding as his plus one. However, Josh tells her to end things with Danny as he refuses to be her fling. That evening, she visits Josh's apartment and tells him she has no chemistry with Danny. Josh tells her that he has a problematic relationship with his father, as his brother was always favoured. They begin flirting, but Josh tells Lucy that he refuses to have sex with her, making her angry.

The pair end up going to the wedding, as Lucy still owes Josh the favour. At the inn, they have to share a room, and things get heated fast.

Fast forward, and Lucy learns from Pat's bride, Mindy, that she is Josh's ex-girlfriend. He reassures her that he is over her, and they officially start their relationship. Back in the office, Lucy misunderstands the conversation between Josh and their boss and thinks he was using their romance to distract her from the job promotion. However, Lucy gets the promotion after Josh quits. They happily become a couple.

Analysis 

There is no doubt that Lucy and Austin had a great level of chemistry throughout the movie, which kept me on my toes and made me wonder when they would become official.

However, the story was very minimalistic, especially with scenes missing from the novel which I expected to appear in the movie adaptation. Personally, the movie is easy to predict after a while, and eventually, I did get bored. Don't get me wrong, the humour elements were nice to see, especially the back-and-forth bickering between Lucy and Josh.

This movie had the opportunity to showcase the true power of rom-coms, but The Hating Game didn't quite live up to that.