Netflix has added Love Don’t Cost a Thing to its streaming lineup. The movie stars Christina Milian and Nick Cannon and comes amid the success of the streaming service’s original film also starring Milian, Resort to Love. Love Don’t Cost a Thing was released in 2003 and is a remake of the 1987 film Can’t Buy Me Love. The film takes its title from Jennifer Lopez’s 2001 single. In the movie, Milian stars as Paris Morgan, a beautiful and popular cheerleader dating an NBA star, Dru Hilton. Cannon stars as Alvin Johnson, a class nerd who specializes in cars.
After Paris accidentally crashes her mother’s expensive car while arguing with Dru, Alvin, who recently took up a job as a pool cleaner to help toward building an engine for a scholarship application, agrees to repair Paris’ car with the money he earned for his project. As payback, Paris gives Alvin a $1,500 makeover and pretends to be his girlfriend for two weeks to help him fit in with the popular crew. As Alvin’s popularity grows, so does Paris’ affinity toward him. The two fall in love by the end of the movie. During its run, Love Don’t Cost a Thing earned $21 million at the box office.
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In Resort to Love, Milian plays Ericka Wilson — alongside Power star Sinqua Wells as Caleb King. The film, produced by Grammy award-winning singer Alicia Keys, explores their journey to love after Ericka goes on a journey of self-love following a failed engagement.
In an interview with The LA Times, Milian said of the romantic comedy, “Love is like this journey that you don’t know where it’s gonna take you but it makes you feel good. I think what attracts me most to [rom-coms] is kind of like the getaway and the fantasy of it. Then, of course, it had music, so anything related to music gets me back into my passion.”
Also featured in the film are former Saturday Night Live star Jay Pharoah and Christiani Pitts. Pharaoh saw the film as a chance to expand his skills, telling the publication: “I wanted to be able to branch off and show my chops in a different way. I definitely think we achieved that in this movie. Showing people different sides, that’s what it’s all about…I’ve always had it; I just never put it out there like that.”
