Review: Modern Love, season 1

Modern Love lets you sit with several New Yorkers as they figure out how to love and be loved in a city that can feel pretty lonely for some.

The stories are heartwarming and sweet. Not all are romantic love stories about about men and women who fall in love, however. Modern Love attempts to show you several kinds of love.

There were 8 episodes in this Amazon Original, each only about 30 minutes long.

Jane Alexander and James Saito as athletic older couple who find a second chance at love in their last act was my favorite of the bunch. #EldersRock, right?

Anne Hathaway gave a exceptionally good performance as the bipolar Lexi. She thinks she wants love from Gary Carr but instead finds a best friend played by Quincy Tyler Bernstine.

Catherine Keener plays a journalist who ends up as the Cupid for Dev Patel. He created a dating app but he can’t get the date he longs to get.

Cristin Milioti and Laurentiu Possa star in a story about a devoted doorman. Sometimes the doorman is the best man you know.

Tina Fey and John Slattery star as a married couple who hate each other and fight all the time. With Sarita Choudhury as their counselor, they are directed to find something to do together. They end up fighting it out on the tennis court.

Sofia Boutella plays a sexy first date for the semi-schlubby John Gallagher Jr. She follows him to the hospital when everything gets bloody. Maybe they can bond over an IV needle.

Olivia Cooke plays a pregnant vagabond who chooses the gay couple played by Andrew Scott and Brandon Kyle Goodman to adopt her baby. She tested their commitment to parenthood in hilarious ways.

Julia Garner plays a 21 year old in need of a father figure. Shea Whigham seemed like a good choice to her, but he misunderstands her intentions and needs.

All these tales of love are based on stories in The New York Times column called “Modern Love.” The series has already been renewed for a second season. Women directors in season 1 were Sharon Horgan and Emmy Rossum.

The best part of these stories is that they weren’t all about romantic love between 20-somethings. What was missing from this series? Lesbians, obviously. Women of color, obviously. Transgender characters, obviously. Modern Love has a chance to correct those oversights in season 2. I hope it will.

Here’s the trailer for season 1.

The message of the series seems to be that love is out there. It may not be romantic love, but that may not even be the kind of love you need. An open heart will help you find it.