May 5, 2023
Love Again is a 2023 American romantic comedy-drama film written and directed by James C. Strouse. It is an English-language remake of the 2016 German film SMS für Dich, itself based on a 2009 novel by Sofie Cramer. The film stars Priyanka Chopra, Sam Heughan, and Celine Dion, in her first feature film, portraying a fictionalized version of herself.
Mira is a young woman trying to get beyond the pain of her fiancé John's death of two years ago by sending texts to his old cell phone number, and ends up forming a connection with Rob, the man the number has been reassigned to.
Love Again was released in the United States on May 5, 2023, by Sony Pictures Releasing.
Storyline
Mira Ray and her almost fiancé John are very much in love, and often communicate via flirtatious text messages. Directly after they have a loving interaction in a café, he goes outside and is promptly hit by a car before Mira's eyes.
Two years later, Mira is living outside of the city with her parents, and her sister Suzy regularly calls, trying to convince her to move back in with her. She is ultimately successful, and greets Mira with open arms. John's accident two years ago was fatal.
Rob Burns is miserable, recovering from being dumped a week before his wedding. He unhappily follows his ex Elizabeth on social media. Called in to work, Rob is assigned to write a piece on Celine Dion and is warned that if he does not write about her with heart, he might be out of a job.
Given a new corporate cell phone, Rob chats with his workmates Lisa and Billy, who encourage him to date again. However, he has become cynical about love. Simultaneously, Mira opens a box given to her by John's parents, containing clothes and the engagement ring he never had the chance to give her. A children's book author and illustrator, she is threatened by her publisher to either produce another upbeat book soon, or be responsible for an intern's dismissal and be forced to return her last advance.
Rob begins to receive private, lovesick messages from a mystery woman on the new work phone. Discovering that this person has a blind date via a dating app, he goes to the bar to connect a face to the number. Believing he has spotted her, Rob is disappointed to see her leave with her date. Unbeknownst to him, Mira shortly throws the guy out of the cab for being too sexually aggressive.
Going to the interview with Celine, she detects Rob's cynicism toward love. She asks him probing questions until he opens up. Rob is encouraged by her to follow his heart. He runs out of time to conduct the interview, but Celine encourages him to try the interview again once he has worked through his issues with dating and love.
Deciphering a text, Rob deduces the texter will be going to a specific opera at the Met. So, he decides to stay for all performances until he finds her. When he finally does, Rob introduces himself, discovering her name is Mira Ray and exchanging personal phone numbers.
Meeting for cheeseburgers another day, Rob and Mira continually find more ways they are compatible, and stay up all night talking. The next night they make dinner together at her place, she falls asleep afterwards, and he stays on the sofa. Mira freaks out when she finds Rob and Suzy getting on very well in the morning.
Rob finds Celine rehearsing, and she notes he has transformed. Mira contacts him again, they play basketball, and then spend the night together at his place. In the morning, upon discovering her texts to John on Rob's computer screen, she feels betrayed so tells Rob to never contact her again.
In lieu of writing the profile on Celine, Rob instead writes how she and her music inspired him to pursue love, which he found with Mira. He swears that Mira has transformed him and begs that she give him a second chance, proposing they meet where he first began to hear the music again. Rob's boss publicly chews him out for going against his assignment, but quietly praises him, promising him a podcast.
Rob eventually finds Mira somewhere between the Met and Central Park. Once he agrees to several promises, they seal the deal with a kiss.
Movie Trailer
- Love Again (2023) (Trailers)