Ever question a film after you’ve seen it? You know, it replays in your head and as you try to connect the dots of plausibility and relatability, it’s full of so much disconnect you just wind up aggravated? Aggravated, because the possibilities for it to have come off decent were there but fell through the cracks of glitz and glamour. If your answer is “yes,” than chances are you might feel that way after watching Netflix’s latest original Rom-Com “Someone Great,” starring Gina Rodriguez. Why you ask? Well, because the very girl-power approach it takes to desperately display is exactly where the film falls flat (for me).
Aspiring music journalist Jenny (Gina Rodriguez) has just landed her dream job at Rolling Stone and is about to move to Cali. Rather than do long distance (amor de lejos, amor de pendejos), her dude of nine years (Lakeith Stanfield) decides to bail. To help cure her broken heart, Jenny hollars at her girls Erin (DeWanda Wise) and Blair (Brittany Snow) for one last crazy night in NYC.
Ok… Well… Err… Um… I didn’t like this movie! And that sucks, because it had so much potential. There were tidbits of hope, only to flatline to formulaic bullshit. It’s got all the ingredients for an engaging story about picking up the pieces once life extends its arm, opens its hand and slaps the shit out of you! However, a bland script didn’t allow this piece to flourish as it relied too much on flashbacks for dramatic effect, instead of focusing on structure, heart and natural humor.
Forget any kind of character development. Nothing allowed me to feel them and their struggle. They didn’t seem like real people. Too pretty in all aspects and way too rushed! It touches on who they are, but there wasn’t enough for me to care about for any of them. And if I didn’t care about them, I didn’t care for their “issues.” Issues that take a toll on someone. It comes off so fake at times, even in the light of day while cracking and chugging bottles of gin, puffing weed and popping Mollys, everyone is still as attractive and perky as they are when they’re doing the complete opposite. WTF?! Oh, yeah… All this craziness while on ZERO food or water, too. Go figure!
Adding insult to injury is it’s shot in NYC, but there’s absolutely NOTHING NY about it. Other than scenery and a Rosario Dawson cameo (the film’s only redeeming moment), it comes off more like a superficial, scene-study class presentation, along with whiny, millennial behavior full of entitled attitude. As a NYer, we’re a lot tougher than that — even when it comes to dealing with break-ups, or simply growing up. There’s hurt, dwelling and fantasizing, but the artsy touch to the film was a hollow result. There’s no ruggedness to it. No realism. Among all the gentrification in this city, there’s still a rough-around-the-edge approach to everything and everyone. The characters were flat and carried no NY swag whatsoever. (Maybe they were the Mid-West? You know, transplants. Who knows? *Shurg*) “Someone Great” may generate an audience (all films do), but its appeal (if any) clearly isn’t for me.
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Grade: C- | Genre: RomCom | Rated: R | Run Time: 92 Minutes
Starring: Gina Rodriguez, Brittany Snow, DeWanda Wise, LaKeith Stanfield, Rosario Dawson
Directed by: Jennifer Kaytin Robinson
“Someone Great” is now streaming on Netflix
