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Love Potion No. 9

Love Potion No. 9

Comedy · Romance · Fantasy · 1992

Unlucky in love, chemist Paul Matthews visits gypsy Madame Rosa for help. Quickly realizing he is a hopeless nerd, she gifts him with Love Potion No. 8, which makes anyone who wears it irresistible to the opposite sex for four hours. Paul and animal psychologist coworker Diane Farrow decide to test it on themselves. The awkward pair suddenly find themselves alluring to anyone they approach, but soon realize they are most attracted to each other.

Movie details

Love Potion No. 9

“Imagine if sex appeal came in a bottle.”

1992 Comedy · Romance · Fantasy 1h 37m

Critical arithmetic

The consensus, allegedly.

IMDb

5.7 / 10

15.4K votes

Rotten Tomatoes

25 %

Tomatometer

Metacritic

47 / 100

Metascore

TMDB

6.2 / 10

Community rating

External scores via OMDb · CC BY-NC 4.0. Values normalized for display; availability varies by title.

Unlucky in love, chemist Paul Matthews visits gypsy Madame Rosa for help. Quickly realizing he is a hopeless nerd, she gifts him with Love Potion No. 8, which makes anyone who wears it irresistible to the opposite sex for four hours. Paul and animal psychologist coworker Diane Farrow decide to test it on themselves. The awkward pair suddenly find themselves alluring to anyone they approach, but soon realize they are most attracted to each other.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over Love Potion No. 9?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Where it lives

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Dale Launer

Written by

Dale Launer

Sandra Bullock

Sandra Bullock

Diane Farrow

Tate Donovan

Tate Donovan

Paul Matthews

Anne Bancroft

Anne Bancroft

Madame Ruth

Blake Clark

Blake Clark

Motorcycle Cop

Rebecca Staab

Rebecca Staab

Cheryl

Mary Mara

Mary Mara

Marisa

Dale Midkiff

Dale Midkiff

Gary

Court is in session

Put Love Potion No. 9 on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Sentimental Softie

“Sincerity is not manipulation.”

The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.

The prosecution The Cool Ironist

“The strings are showing.”

Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.