Follow TV Tropes

Following

Context Film / LoveStinks

Go To

1[[quoteright:315:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/love_stinks.jpeg]]
2
3A 1999 "un-romantic comedy" film written and directed by Creator/JeffFranklin, starring Creator/FrenchStewart, Creator/BridgetteWilson, Creator/BillBellamy and Creator/TyraBanks.
4
5Seth Winnick (Stewart) is on the way to his wedding to Chelsea Turner (Wilson) when his buddy and best man Larry (Bellamy) pulls him into the airplane bathroom for a little chat... in which he begs Seth to call off the wedding.
6
7Flash back a year prior to when Seth met Chelsea, at Larry's own wedding to her best friend Holly (Banks). Chelsea is an interior decorator whose beauty immediately catches Seth's eye, while Chelsea herself is attracted to Seth because he's a nice guy who happens to be single. The two ditch their dates and hook up that very day.
8
9Before long, Chelsea has moved firmly into Seth's life as his live-in girlfriend. She's funny, sexy, and drop dead gorgeous, seemingly everything Seth could want -- and is making increasingly not-so-subtle hints that she'd like to marry him. She doesn't take it very well when he makes it clear to her that he's really not interested in marriage, and the relationship quickly goes downhill when she decides to sue him for palimony.
10
11----
12!!This film contains examples of the following tropes:
13
14* ActuallyAGoodIdea: Larry seems to have this opinion once [[spoiler:Seth finishes explaining his plan at the end. Then his dancing convinces him that [[SanitySlippage Seth has simply lost his mind.]]]]
15** Seth commends Chelsea for hiding her diamond earrings [[VictoriasSecretCompartment in her cleavage]] when she had pretended to throw them into the sea.
16* Music/AlsoSprachZarathustra: Chelsea ''walks down the aisle'' to this.
17* {{Bookends}}: The movie begins and ends with a wedding. [[spoiler:Subverted at the last minute.]]
18* BreadEggsBreadedEggs: Seth's quote "I will sue your ass for damages for damaging my ass!"
19* CampGay: Seth claims that the psychological damage from Chelsea has turned him into this.
20* CouldHaveAvoidedThisPlot: After Larry finishes recounting the story and begs Seth one last time to call off the wedding, Seth angrily retorts that if he'd just married Chelsea to begin with, "none of this shit would have happened!"
21* CoversAlwaysLie: The VHS and DVD covers depict Seth tied up at Chelsea's feet. This doesn't happen to him at any point during the film itself.
22* DisproportionateRetribution: Many of the things Seth and Chelsea do to each other cross into this, but it reaches a new low when, [[spoiler:after Seth reveals his plan at the Vegas wedding chapel, Chelsea attacks the security guard and shoots Seth, apparently with full intent to ''kill'' him.]]
23* ElvisImpersonator: Serves as the pastor at Seth and Chelsea's wedding. Justified, as they're in Las Vegas and Seth is an Elvis fan.
24* EscalatingWar: Seth and Chelsea's relationship turns into this, with each one playing increasingly cruel pranks on the other. [[spoiler:Which comes back to bite Seth hard when Chelsea decides she has enough grounds to slap him with a restraining order, effectively kicking him out of his own home.]]
25* GetOut: After getting the letter informing him of Chelsea's lawsuit against him, Seth angrily tells the man who delivered it to leave.
26* GroinAttack: Chelsea does this to [[spoiler:a security guard in Vegas to get his gun.]]
27* HappilyMarried: Larry and Holly are quite happy together, even though the situation with their friends puts a brief strain on their relationship.
28* HereWeGoAgain: The film ends with [[spoiler:Chelsea and Seth being escorted out of the chapel - she in handcuffs and he on a stretcher - each threatening to drag the other back to court. Larry resignedly remarks to Holly, "We need new friends."]]
29* HowWeGotHere: Nearly the entire film is a flashback, as Larry tries to convince Seth not to go through with the marriage.
30* IdiotBall: Seth grabs it when, [[spoiler:instead of immediately putting as much distance between himself and his psychotic ex-girlfriend as he possibly can once he drops TheReveal, he does a HappyDance all around the chapel in celebration of his victory.]]
31* ILied: [[spoiler:Seth. It turns out his proposal to Chelsea was an elaborate plan to get her to willingly move out and give up any legal claim to his home.]]
32* IWantGrandkids: Chelsea tries to pass off the abundance of wedding memorabilia in her home as hints from her mother that she needs to settle down.
33* IWroteOurStory: Seth, who is the producer for a TV sitcom, begins basing his scripts on the events of his own life even as things with Chelsea begin to fall apart. This eventually presents a problem, because the characters in the sitcom are a pair of SickeninglySweethearts.
34* KickTheDog: Seth throwing Chelsea's cat off a bridge. [[spoiler:Gracie doesn't actually get hurt because she's in a harness attached to a cord, but it's still a dick thing to do.]]
35** Chelsea's no slouch either as she often takes advantage of Seth's cat allergy, such as when she brings Gracie to bed with her and deliberately brushes dander and loose fur in his direction.
36* LargeHam: Seth frequently crosses into this territory.
37* MakingLoveInAllTheWrongPlaces: The first time they have sex is in the furniture showroom of a department store. They get caught.
38* ManicPixieDreamGirl: Chelsea seems like this for Seth at first, as she certainly makes his life more fun and exciting. But when he's not willing to completely let go of his old life and marry her, things go from dream to nightmare.
39* MyBiologicalClockIsTicking: Why Chelsea's so fixated on getting married.
40* OnlyOneName: Tawny explains to Marty that she dropped her last name.
41* TheReveal: [[spoiler:There was no need for Larry to persuade Seth to call off the wedding, because Seth never intended to go through with it anyway.]]
42* RuleOfThree: On their first date, Chelsea tells Seth that she has a rule in which she will not sleep with a man unless they've had three meals together.
43** LoopholeAbuse: Eager to hop in bed with her, Seth arranges for the two of them to have [[ExactWords three meals together]] all on the same night.
44* SanitySlippage: Both Chelsea and Seth go through this.
45* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: The lead stars of [[ShowWithinAShow Ronnie and Juliet]] walk off the set when they get fed up with Seth's personal life affecting the show's script and their characters.
46* ShotInTheAss: Chelsea does this to Seth in the end.
47* SingleWomanSeeksGoodMan: Apparently why Chelsea fell for Seth. Though she seems to have been more interested in the fact that he was single.
48* TheThingThatWouldNotLeave: One of Seth's major problems with Chelsea after they break up - she technically lives in his house and refuses to move out.

Top