Betty Gilpin steals the show in Netflix’s “Office romance”
Published 17.44
Office romance
Directed by Ol Parker, with Jennifer LopezBrett Goldstein, Betty Gilpin, Jodie Whittaker, Edward James Olmos, Tony Hale, Bradley Whitford, Amy Sedaris.
MOVIE REVIEW. Forbidden love at work is the theme of Jennifer Lopez’s latest romcom, in which she stars opposite “Ted Lasso” star Brett Goldstein.
It has its moments, but seems to have a hard time knowing which foot to stand on. It dared? Or the very conventional one?
ROMANTIC COMEDY. The romcom veteran Jennifer Lopez has previously fallen in love with stars like Matthew McConaughey, Ralph Fiennes, Owen Wilson, Ben Affleck, Josh Duhamel and Richard Gereand the next man to shave is Brett Goldstein.
The Brit who broke through internationally in the comedy series “Ted Lasso” in 2020, and here is also one of the scriptwriters.
He plays the lawyer Daniel Blanchflower, who has moved from London to New Jersey where he has started working for the airline Air Cruz. And Lopez plays Jackie Cruz, who has taken over as CEO from her father and takes her job so seriously that she hasn’t slept with anyone in four years.
Puts in the throat
However, the abstinence will soon come to an end, when the company’s top lawyer (Bradley Whitford) puts a breakfast burrito down her throat, and Daniel gets to step in in his place and bring Jackie down both professionally and privately.
But the company has strict rules regarding office romances (they must not occur), Daniel has a secret, and Jackie has both a betrayal in the past to process, and a board that does not respect her and a precarious atmosphere from a competing company to deal with.
You see, obstacles must be overcome, and grand declarations of love and crucial choices will be made at the last second.
Funny, every now and then
Lopez and Goldstein work perfectly fine together, although they hardly spark, and much the same can be said for the film as a whole.
It’s actually really funny from time to time, but doesn’t always seem to know which foot to stand on and therefore gets split.
Jackie is a strange hybrid of ice queen, daddy’s little girl and completely normal, beautiful type. And recurring elements of fairly crude humor with features from both brothers Farrelly and Judd Apatow mixed with very conventional developments and sex that only happens off-screen.
But among the supporting roles there are several golden nuggets that make “Office romance” an acceptable entertainment after all. As Tony Hale as an anxious HR manager, Jodie Whittaker as Daniel’s incredibly burdous sister, and above all the formidable one Betty Gilpin as Jackie’s tart and heavily pregnant workaholic right-hand man.
She steals large parts of the film, and I would love to see her in her own romcom.
Shown on Netflix.
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