Lately, Netflix has been putting out original content like it's a sushi restaurant in an "I Love Lucy" episode, between stand up comedian's specials, new series, documentaries and a handful of romantic comedies, the process has been full of some growing pains. Yet, recently they released "Set It Up," directed by Claire Scanlon and people have been delighted with the results. This film features young leads Zoey Deutch and Glen Powell as matchmakers for their overworked bosses (Lucy Liu and Taye Diggs) and although we've all watched romantic comedies before, it keeps you engaged through a well-paced story the entire film.
As the young assistants struggle with their own questions, what they're willing to sacrifice to become successful and what they want from their careers, they find themselves spending time together setting up their bosses. A friendship is slowly kindled and the beginnings of infatuation start to blossom when they are faced with a difficult choice about coming clean to their bosses in order to reveal a cruel truth they have both uncovered.
While this romantic comedy does stay true to many of the cliches and formulaic turns of the usual romantic comedy, it also stays true enough to the unique characters and freshly twisted storyline to become something new. The chemistry between Deutch and Powell keeps you leaning in and routing for the characters, as well as the developed side characters. Both of the bosses, specifically Liu's character, are developed beyond the 'evil boss' stereotype to show their own feelings and motivations.
As with any great romantic comedy, each leading character has one friend who we as the audience get to see. Both of these friends are cherished. Pete Davidson makes an appearance at Powell's gay roommate who becomes fast friends with Deutch. While Deutch's own best friend becomes engaged and helps Deutch beat a serious case of writer's block with tough love. These side characters are modern and charming in a way that most romantic comedies buddies end up flat and one dimensional. The addition of Deutch's friendly seat buddies at the Dodger's game only adds to the layers each character in the film holds on their own and not simply as a plot for the device to function around.
The entire film takes old tropes that make people love movies like "27 Dresses," "The Wedding Planner," "How To Lose a Guy In 10 Days" and all of the other classics in the genre that you can predict from the opening scene. But with the updated twists and turns of this story, it leaves you laughing in the middle of the airport chase-down scene and cringing in the middle of the big fight scene because of accidental shoplifting. This film is a winner for many reasons, the acting, the writing, the diversity, the honesty and above all, how easy and fun it is to watch. "Set It Up" gets romantic comedies back on the track that not everything has to be tragic to be good, sometimes it just has to be kind of real. And "Set It Up" is as real of a romantic comedy as you'll ever see.
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