One of the more iconic elements of Olive Smith and Adam Carlsen’s fake relationship in The Love Hypothesis is their Wednesday coffee dates. Just plausible enough as an actual date, while being public enough to fool their friends and colleagues respectively, the coffee dates show Olive and Adam getting to know each other gradually throughout the book. While we lose most of them in changing from page to screen, that doesn’t mean they don’t make the most out of the one that we do get, specifically the first of their Wednesday coffee dates.
Up to this point, all of Olive and Adam’s conversations following the surprise kiss Olive initiated to throw her best friend Anh off their scent have been very matter-of-fact discussions of the issue at hand. They both have reasons for wanting to “fake date,” and they’re both willing to help the other meet their objective. Their first coffee date is also the first true test of this plan, and while it’s short, it is also packed with comedy.
For Olive, the tension and pressure begin before she even leaves for the date, when Adam texts her for the first time, suggesting a time and a location for their first date to get the plan moving. Though she is a long way from developing feelings for Adam, we see that getting a text from him is already making her smile. Yes, we can chalk some of that up to the fact that the man is texting about a date in the same way I email my dentist to book my next cleaning, and for a supposed relationship that is objectively hilarious. But it’s nice to think that on some level, Olive already finds Adam’s intense awkwardness to be charming.
The other level to the pre-date text message is that Olive leaves her phone screen-side up at first, unintentionally letting Anh see that these are the first-ever texts that she and Adam have exchanged. We learn later that Anh knew from the get-go that this relationship was fake, and that this is just proving her point, but for Olive, the pressure is on to make this convincing.
When Adam arrives at the campus coffee shop for their date, his entrance is scored by a very intense, Kylo Ren-esque theme that pays homage to the origins of the novel. I won’t spend too much time on it, but the little Kylo/Rey Easter eggs worked into the movie, from hairstyles and costume choices to the musical motifs composed for Olive and Adam, are nothing short of delightful for this longtime Reylo. Adam’s music in particular, and the way he stalks around menacingly while it plays, is just one of the ways this movie truly leans into the “com” side of the “rom-com,” and it is a joy to get a movie that can well and truly do both.
Once they’re both there, things take a turn for the awkward. Neither Olive nor Adam really knows how to be around each other, especially since they’re supposed to be a couple fully in the throes of new romance. That expectation they set for themselves, combined with the fact that people in the coffee shop recognize them and are shocked by the sight of them together, really cranks up the pressure on them both. Despite this, though, this is where we see them have that first conversation where they truly get to know each other, rather than just discussing the practicalities of their arrangement. Adam even cracks a couple of jokes with what we come to recognize as his signature dry sense of humour. If he subconsciously started warming up to Olive after their almost-hug-turned-handshake in his office, that left him staring at his palm like a post-doc Mr. Darcy, then the coffee date is where we first see Olive starting to warm up to Adam.
Just as Olive and Adam are bonding over Adam’s horror at how sweet she likes her drinks, and agree to attend the departmental picnic together as a non-date “activity” to cement the idea of their relationship to their friends and peers, they are interrupted by said friends and peers. A not-so-covert picture of the two of them is posted online by Janine, the department secretary, which causes Ahn and Malcolm to come running to confirm that they’re actually there together.
Given that Anh saw the text from Adam earlier, I’d argue that they were already on their way, and Janine’s post was just a helpful cover, but either way, their arrival brings the date to a quick end when Adam critiques Malcolm’s work (again), shows a surprising kindness to Anh, and then leaves, but not before ending things on another awkward note with a hilarious, hesitant kiss on Olive’s forehead.
Olive and Adam’s first date was a proof of concept for the two of them, yes, but it’s also a proof of concept for the audience. Yes, we know the synopsis, but this is the scene that needs to make us believe that the two of them are going to go from virtual strangers to lovers, and this scene sells that idea not only with how sweet it is, but also how funny. The two of them might already find each other objectively attractive, but this is the first time they see there is more to the other than meets the eye. It’s the first time Adam really softens up around Olive, and also the first time she smiles at him not in confusion, but out of genuine joy. It’s a short scene, but an endearing one, and one that sets the tone for the rest of the movie. We might have only gotten one Wednesday coffee date, but they made sure it was worth it.
The Love Hypothesis is now streaming on Prime Video.
First Featured Image Credit: ©Prime Video