Someone Great. Jennifer Kaytin Robinson. 2019. ☆☆☆☆★★
I’m like totes caught up with the Netflix (this movie was released today), so I’m watching other movies on the side. But since they’re not really uh conceptual? then I’m not blogging about them, for which everybody’s happy, I guessing.
But I’ve discovered over the years that it’s really handy to have an external log of the movies I’ve seen: If not I just forget whether they’re any good or not.
The nightmare is over! I started a new “slush movie” blog! Which is a web log of movies with or without comment.
You’re welcome.
BUT HERE WE ARE BACK AT THE NETFLIX BLOG SERIES!
So what’s this then? It’s one of those modern comedies about young people, and from the title there’s probably romance involved.
I enjoy the performances of the central actors… They’ve got a kinda semi-raunchy lighthearted vibe going on. Less successful are the dozens¹ of Daily Show/Saturday Night Live guys who show up in minor parts.
And the jokes OK, but they’re not gut busters. I did love the horrified look on the fashionishta’s face when she felt a denim jacket: “It’s so crunchy. Is that NEW DENIM!?”
(It was somewhat confusing, though, because the denim jacket she was touching was a very well-worn, soft vintage one. I guess the prop/costume person didn’t get the note.)
The script has the usual signs of being generated for Netflix: There’s a random walk of elements (a pot movie with young women, and this time the Wise Black Man Giving Advice (and selling drugs) is RuPaul).
I like it.
In the final third it predictably crashes badly when they try to engineer The Serious Last Act.
I see that some reviewers question why this isn’t a TV series instead, but to me it doesn’t feel like a TV series at all. The structure is totally movie, and the cinematography is definitely a step above. The colour grading (or something) is a bit weird, though: You have a super-saturated scene, and then we switch to the reverse, and then everything’s washed out, and then back again.
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¹) Not accurate.
This post is part of the NFLX2019 blog series.