The Hating Game Synopsis: Resolving to achieve professional success without compromising her ethics, Lucy embarks on a ruthless game of one-upmanship against cold and efficient nemesis Joshua, a rivalry that is complicated by her growing attraction to him.
I’ll be honest; I was a bit so-so on The Hating Game, Sally Thorne’s 2016 novel, on which this movie is based. I won’t go into my thoughts on the book itself – you can read that in the review link above – but I will admit right now that I actually preferred the movie, which almost never happens. I will give Thorne her due, though – The Hating Game’s book success helped boost the rom-com genre, which continues to thrive today.
So, in the movie, Lucy hates Josh. Josh hates Lucy. And there is a fine line between love and hate. They’re both up for the same promotion and work to sabotage the other while fighting (for a while) their attraction to one another.
As with most enemies-to-lovers tropes, Lucy and Josh never entirely hate each other. They dislike each other for superficial reasons and probably because they’re annoyed by their attraction. This particular trope lives or dies by the chemistry between the two leads. Thankfully, Lucy Hale and Austin Stowell are quite magnetic together, and their on-screen chemistry carries the otherwise formulaic film.
I loved the quick-witted banter between the two, and while The Hating Game is more focused on romance than comedy, it also has its share of laugh-out-loud moments. I haven’t seen Lucy Hale in much, but she was just the right balance of funny, coy, and sexy as Lucy.
Austin Stowell may look like your typical, bland(ish) leading man, but he gives the stoic Josh plenty of depth, which you don’t really get in the novel. I think this may be part of why I enjoyed the movie more than the book – both characters share equal development.
You won’t find anything new or surprising in The Hating Game, but it’s still sexy and entertaining and definitely worth watching.
Watched: 10/28/2022
Notable Song: This is How You Fall in Love by Jeremy Zucker & Chelsea Cutler
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