Once upon a time, rom coms were fluffy movies which lived in its own canon. Even before the first scene rolls, you’d know that Meg Ryan will always have her happy ending.
However, rom coms have evolved. While they still predominantly end with happily ever after, characters and storylines are getting increasingly complex. Some might even give you food for thought.
Materalists is part of this new wave of rom coms. And it does a good job of delivering its central message about how horribly superficial the dating world is.
It is especially highlighted because Lucy (Dakota Johnson) is a professional matchmaker. Throughout the movie, we see how fixated her clients are with facts and figures (both numerical and anatomical).
Lucy herself is a walking book of stats, who rattles off what everyone wants with disturbing accuracy. She has adeptly commodified her clients, even lamenting how one does not fit in any niche and is therefore a harder sell.
However, even when the matchmakers find the perfect match, paper cannot guarantee real life connection. This is evident throughout the film through the clients’ experiences and Lucy’s.
Similarly, a film can cast the best actors but it may not necessarily translate to a great movie.
Materialists may have some big names in its cast but its biggest downfall is its lack of character and relationship development.
The film leans in to Pedro Pascal’s mass appeal, casting him as the unicorn of the dating world, Harry.
Harry is tall, dark, handsome with a solid career in private equity. He is suave, he signs the paycheck without batting an eyelid… he even casually buys drinks for his rival’s colleagues.
As charming as Harry is, I feel like I am expected to believe that the progression in his relationship with Lucy is natural. It doesn’t help that the film glosses over this progression, offering little about their relationship.
Similarly, Chris Evans’ John is supposed to be the other point of the triangle. We are told that on paper, Lucy and him should work out… but we just don’t see it. The flashbacks we do have of him are negative and while there are a few slivers of attraction, it doesn’t seem to justify any attraction to someone that was so vehemently dumped.
Thankfully. despite Evans’ strong association with the do gooder, nice boy image due to his tenure as Captain America, he plays the disgruntled struggling actor well. I just wished we could have seen more of his character and why Lucy fell for him in the first place, so that we could see a strong romantic tension on screen.
Dakota Johnson, on the other hand, leaves much to be desired. Her performance is monotone. Despite the myriad of emotions her character goes through, her face does not shift much from its default setting.
Whether this detachment is an intentional character trait or not, I could not relate to her character.
Aside from knowing that she’s supremely calculative of relationship stats, I don’t know enough about Lucy to form an attachment to her. When Harry asks her what her dream holiday is, she simply says – Finland. No explanation, no expansion.
Similarly, our characters find themselves in situations that simply make no sense. Why on Earth would a unicorn like Harry doubt his ability to find and feel love? This declaration comes straight out of left field and left me scratching my head.
Despite these flaws, there are some genuinely enjoyable moments in this film. An awkward conversation about surgery between Harry and Lucy couldn’t help but make me laugh. And as disgusting as his living situation is, you can’t help but cringe laugh at John’s misfortune.
However, if you’re a stickler for a classic rom com, Materialists does not deliver the satisfying closure that is the hallmark of the genre.