Cara-Lynn BranchI grew up watching classic rom-coms like His Girl Friday and The Philadelphia Story, the Bullock, Roberts, and Ryan domination of the 90s, and the last big box office wave of rom-coms in the early 2000s. I love a rom-com. Jane Austen Wrecked My Life, which is still in a limited theatrical release, was my favourite film at TIFF last year and of the year. I jump at the chance to see new rom-coms in theaters, like sports films; it doesn’t matter that you generally know how the game will play out. The appeal is for the characters, the world, and often in a rom-com, the banter. So, I was very excited when it was announced that Celine Song was following up her wonderful film Past Lives with a rom-com. Past Lives, at its heart, was all about connection, and that’s also what is at the heart of good rom-coms, even if the tone is very different.
Materialists opens with a wedding between a caveman and a cavewoman. You understand its connection in relation to the film because the couple exchanges items, but even when the scene is reconnected later towards the very end of the film, I did not find the imagery necessary, and it felt a little out of place. I would have preferred to have jumped in just a tad later, kept the focus more squarely on Lucy (played by Dakota Johnson). Doing so would have also kept the reveal of Lucy’s starting beliefs on the transactional (materialist) nature of marriage until her heart-to-heart with Charlotte (played by Louisa Jacobson) at her wedding.
Charlotte’s wedding is where the main action of the film begins; it’s where Lucy meets Harry (played by Pedro Pascal) and where John (played by Chris Evans) re-enters her life. Pascal is currently Hollywood’s most sought-after actor. He is everywhere, and he is good. If this were the 90s or early 2000s, he would constantly make people swoon in a series of rom-coms instead of getting dirty or suiting up for a slew of sci-fi and action projects (not that anyone’s complaining). He is so charming from his first scene with Johnson. However, even just having seen the poster and never having watched a trailer, you know this film is a three-hander, so as the first guy to flirt with her, his chances for a rom-com happy ending are not good. Chris Evans’ entrance makes that abundantly clear. His arrival embodies the essence of a classic Hollywood rom-com; it is so smooth it deflates Harry’s sails in an instant and conveys all the history that Lucy and John share in just a few short lines. It was my favorite moment in the film, and one I look forward to re-watching when it eventually ends up on streaming.
Writers often discuss a character’s wants vs needs. Lucy’s job as a matchmaker is all about trying to fulfill people’s relationship wants to find them a match. On paper, Harry fulfills all her wants in a partner, and the way he talks about her also makes her feel valuable, which lines up with her belief system. That is how we know long before she realizes it herself that he isn’t going to line up with what she needs.
Like everyone else, I will watch Pedro Pascal in anything, but I hope I get to see him in more rom-coms, or just more rom-coms in general. Though I do hope we get more rom-coms that aren’t R-rated, because Materialistsand Anyone But You both felt like films that would have been PG-13 in the 2000s. I know it’s because they feel like young audiences won’t go to see these movies, but I also think it’s because you won’t give them the opportunity.
Materialists is currently in theaters.
