An interesting premise botched by a confusing, illogical script
Art of Love is a Turkish police procedural and romance drama about an Interpol agent and an art thief she earnestly wants to put behind bars. Alin is an Interpol agent working with the art crime unit, and she is chasing after a peculiar art thief who breaks into museums with many priceless art pieces but only takes the least valuable ones.
She and her partner Ozen figure out a significant clue of where the thief will hit next, and Alin is struck with the biggest surprise in the investigation when she realises that the thief is her ex-fiancé Guney. Alin does not have a very pleasing experience with Guney since he suddenly vanished and was believed dead for years, leaving her devastated before reappearing later safe.
To avoid reconnecting with Guney, Alin moved to Paris and stayed with her mother, where she became a consultant for Interpol, helping solve art-related crimes. This led her to a career as an Interpol agent. In the present case, Alin has a hard time convincing her superiors that Guney is their suspect since he is a billionaire who can easily buy the stolen paintings. She comes up with a plan to entrap him to prove her suspicions beyond reasonable doubt.
The premise of Art of Love is nothing special since there are many movies out there about police officers falling in love with their suspects. Regardless, it promised to bring a unique concept about a billionaire turned thief in an elaborate plan to win back his true love. However, the script lacks a precise storyline, making the different subplots disconnected and senseless, with many plot holes and illogical scenes. The writers did not decide on which narrative to capitalise on, leaving audiences wondering whether the film is about a billionaire turned thief and his sidekicks stealing paintings, about an Interpol agent desperate to arrest them, or about two lovers reuniting under strange circumstances. The lazy writing leads to choppy results and underdeveloped storylines with zero character development.
Although the casts are eye candies, the whack writing makes their on-screen development mediocre, starting with the lack of chemistry between the main leads. They are so poorly written that the audience will neither feel the billionaire charm emanating from Guney nor Alin’s detective skills. The premise indicates that the two had a sparingly overwhelming love story, but you will experience neither thrill nor sparks flying in their intimacy.
Their presence on screen is so unremarkable that you will switch off your brain and keep staring with zero interest as they walk or have a chase down, disappearing, and reappearing on screen. The support characters are props that are so irrelevant to the story that you can remove all of them from the plot. The story could be nothing different. What is Omer’s role? At least Vera is a hacker and a little useful in the heists, but regardless, Guney could pull them off without her. Ozen is probably significant to the plot twist at the end of the movie, but given that Faysal’s addition adds no value to the narrative, Ozen could as well disappear in the background, and nothing would change.
Overall, nothing is exciting about Art of Love; it is the most unserious movie of 2024! However, the backdrops and imagery are stunning, and the feeling that it might have been filmed in various locations like Istanbul, Budapest, or Prague adds a layer of authenticity. Regardless, the confusing and cliché underdeveloped writing robs the movie of much potential, and the final verdict is that it is not worth watching.
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