
“Love, Divided” is a pleasant-enough love-without-first-sight rom-com about two quarelling neighbors who find a connection through a shared wall, one that’s entirely too thin to get the sound muffling job done.
He, played by Fernando Guallar, is borderline agoraphobic, a tinkerer/game-builder who hasn’t left his apartment in three years. Something set David off, and he’s been obsessing over getting his next game just right, any excuse to not go out.
The new neighbor (Spanish pop star Aitana) “won’t make it through the day,” David predicts to his pal, Nacho (Adam Jezieriski). David has his ways — sound effects gear, noisy machinery, etc. — to chase off anyone who might disturb his peace by moving into the place next door.
He doesn’t need that other neighbor Valentina asks about “the noise” (in Spanish, or dubbed into English) telling her it’s a “ghost.” Couldn’t hurt, though.
She’s a pianist rehearsing for a big audition. Mr. “I require absolute silence” and “Challenge, accepted” and his metallic racket may be getting into an escalation he’s not mentally prepared for.
But a truce is quickly reached, conversations grow more pleasant and her Beethoven audition piece muddles along. Her overbearing ex Oscar (Miguel Ángel Muñoz) may still be in the picture, but she takes a stab at figuring out who the sensitive stranger next door is. That requires conferring with her cousin/bestie Carmen (Natalia Rodríguez) while David copes with the “get out of the house” efforts of Nacho.
Can love be in the offing, or is an old non-soundproofed wall enough to stand in their way? Not having to face or get too close to someone could be “perfect, just the way it is.” Or is it?
This is the Spanish version of a French comedy titled “Blind Date,” which is kind of a Netflix thing, now — get multiple uses in multiple languages out of intellectual properties (rom-com scripts, usually) that they’ve already paid for.
I described “Love, Divided” as “pleasant-enough” at the outset, and I’ll let that stand — up to a point. “Cute” never quite finishes the leap to “sweet.” The mixups and miscommunication are blandly-handled.
Aitana has a very sweet singing voice, and that’s presented as an alternative to the life she’s reaching for — concert pianist. Guallar is kind of amusing at his edgiest.
But “edge” is something this script gives itself a hernia avoiding. The early scenes of “noise” warfare are abandoned just as they’re about to escalate into something funny. The later scenes, where they abruptly decide no first names and no face time or eye contact, are undermotivated.
Cute leads and a catchy rom-com hook aren’t utterly squandered here. But “pleasant enough” is as far as this goes, and that’s pretty bland, something “Love, Divided” settles for more often than not.
Rating: TV-14, some profanity, sexual situation
Cast: Aitana, Fernando Guallar, Natalia Rodríguez, Adam Jezierski, Paco Tous and Miguel Ángel Muñoz
Credits: Directed by Patricia Font, scripted by Marta Sánchez, based on the French film “Un peu, Beacoup, Aveuglemont” (“Blind Date”) by Clovis Cornillac. A Netflix release.
Running time: 1:39

