Despite numerous pacing issues, comprehension deficits and transition problems, I really liked The Love Guide–I even watched it two times in a row. Disclaimer: I love Parker Posey so I’m incredibly sensitive to the nuances in her over the top performance here-when she was being self-centered, sincere, a fame whore, wounded, supportive, caustic, spacey, innocent, etc. I think that if you hate her character, are not a Posey fan or just look at her character in a polemic way-either as a charlatan or someone who is completely in control supernaturally, then you will hate The Love Guide. I think that the script and the director may have needed one more revision, especially since most Americans are not successful at dabbling in magical realism and need extensive tutorials from Guillermo del Toro. The Love Guide is incredibly ambitious and tried to accomplish a lot, but was rushed. If you actually watch The Love Guide closely, Posey’s wardrobe reflects the tone of each section of the film. I think that the main problem is that an audience is inherently biased against this type of character and reality tv so it is a lot to overcome in 80 minutes. There are culture clashes and melding, financial crises, learning when to compromise and to assert oneself, a clever twist on East meets West, principles versus practice. There is definitely something missing in The Love Guide-normally I’m for showing over telling, but perhaps a little more telling was needed. I felt like the actors did a lot to make it work. It was nice to see Kathryn Erbe do something different, even if only for a limited time, outside of Law & Order: Criminal Intent.