Do you miss Rom Coms? Because I know that I do. When I think of my favorite Rom Coms I go as far back as "10 Things I Hate About You" (1999), "She's All That" (1999) or "Clueless" (1995), then there's "About A Boy" (2002) and "Love Actually" (2003) and "Crazy Stupid Love (2011). I can watch any of these movies again and again.
I have yet to see "The Big Sick" which I hope Netflix acquires, they should also get "She's All That" while they're at it.
What goes for romantic movies in cinemas in the past years are either hormone raging, coming of age stories or someone dying of a terminal disease based on books. Now I don't have anything against book to movie adaptations, I actually like some of them but come to think of it, these movies are either Nicholas Spark or John Green adaptations.
A good Rom Com is long overdue and Netflix's "Set It Up" delightfully delivers.
Updated for a 21st century audience, "Set It Up" stars Taye Diggs and Lucy Liu, as an irritable business man and an aggressive ESPN sports editor (respectively) roles, which would by practice and industry standards would have been given to white actors. They are both demanding bosses who drive their assistants; adorable aspiring writer, Harper (Zoey Deutch) and 'waiting on the wings for that promotion' Charlie (Glen Powell) to perform incredibly difficult and demeaning tasks (Human Resources would have a field day) but which they both endure as they wait for their "big break".
The two overworked and underpaid assistants, who work at the same building meet one night while picking up dinner for their bosses (yes, they stay all the way into night and they have to get their boss' food). The two realize that if they can set up their uptight superiors (read: hook up) then they would be free to do what they want. Harper can get to actually write while Charlie can actually 'get some' from his hot, materialistic model girlfriend.
As if "full on parent-trapping" their bosses" wasn't enough, Liu's Krysten and Diggs' Rick have become so dependent on their well meaning assistants that they have to actually "Cyrano" them. (Am I the only one who thought that it was so sad that they did not even actually explain who Cyrano is? Google Cyrano de Bergerac people!)
Its easy to guess that (surprise, surprise) Charlie and Harper realize that they actually like spending time with each other, even if its not hatching a scheme to keep their boss' together. The charm of the film doesn't come from the predictable plot but rather that they get the formula for good Rom Coms to work and what is that formula? According to director Claire Scanlon (in her movie directorial debut) is good chemistry and Powell and Deutch have it!
For a movie that is so well represented though, the role of gay BFF goes to an underutilized Pete Davidson, they could have gotten more from him than the mere 'soy incident'. A delightful gem though is Titus Burgess who plays the role of "Creepy Tim" -the building's janitor, and that is all that I am saying.
The movie's big "You had me at hello-" line is delivered by Harper's roommate, a newly engaged Becca who says: "You like because and you love despite..." and in this time of casual sex and Tinder, its nice to have an inspiration for the "real deal" the "and yet" in relationships, think long term, think, "this is it".
From Harper's rapid fire and nerdy quips to Charlie's eager to please personality the duo are hilarious together and under the reins of a 'Brooklyn Nine-Nine' director you can't help but LOL at scenarios which were taken directly from the Nine-Nine playbook (which I binge watched on Netflix by the way). "Set It Up" feels so familiar that you can't help but experience that nostalgic "feel good" wave of emotion that comes to you as the end credits start rolling in only to burst into laughter at a hilarious pre credit scene. The movie is the return of Rom Com-something you did not know that you know that you need but trust me, you do. (9/10)
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