When you see the first rushes or even the stills of a rom-com like Office Romance, reasonable expectations are set. Easy-breezy rom-coms are few and far between. So, the prospect of JLo starring as a bosswoman AND romancing Brett Goldstein aka grumpy Roy Kent? Sign me up… or so I thought.
The R-rated workplace rom-com kicks off with considerable promise. Jackie Cruz (a radiant Jennifer Lopez), the CEO of commercial airline AirCruz finds herself on the receiving end of a ludicrous, yet high-stakes lawsuit from competitor Falcon airlines. When the head of her legal team is hospitalised after choking very inconveniently on a breakfast burrito, Daniel Blanchflower (Brett Goldstein) steps in.
The attraction is fast and furious, and feels especially challenging to sustain in an organisation that heavily comes down on even the whimper of a workplace romance. Jackie’s best friend, a heavily pregnant Sydney Bloom (Betty Gilpin), is also constantly on vigil. While Jackie is a self-proclaimed workaholic who comes with considerable baggage, Daniel has his own secrets; a sister stashed away in prison.
Office Romance (English)
Director: Ol Parker
Cast: Jennifer Lopez, Brett Goldstein, Betty Gilpin, Bradley Whitford
Runtime: 115 minutes
Storyline: A CEO and her company’s legal head navigate workplace challenges and embark on a romance that takes over their lives
A workplace setting offers up so much potential in a rom-com (remember Set It Up?), especially when it features shifting power dynamics like in this one. In the initial stretches of the film, it’s a true pleasure witnessing Daniel being the bumbling, far-from-charming romance hero, who is rendered unable to even form a coherent sentence in the presence of Jackie. Once you settle in for the sparks to fly however, all of this is short-lived.
Amidst all the prolonged eye contact at boardroom meetings, occasional workplace banter, try-hard crude jokes and an ongoing legal tussle, Office Romance never really lands. It doesn’t quite embraces its breezy and cute side, nor does it go full throttle with the R-rated jokes or gags. The result? A middling muddle of cliches that feel flat, and far from entertaining.
Jennifer Lopez as Jackie Cruz and Brett Goldstein as Daniel Blanchflower in ‘Office Romance’
| Photo Credit:
Netflix
The leads, JLo and Brett (who also has writing credits on the film) do enjoy some brief, sparkling chemistry as they jet set to pristine beaches, enjoy a string of dates all over the city (without ever being spotted) and sneak around the office. There is however little else we learn about them — in brief flashes we hear of Daniel having to settle in New Jersey to be closer to his sister, or about Jackie’s previous marriage and her need to be taken more seriously by her board of directors or her father whose legacy she is carrying on; but that is it. There is no conversation that intrigues, the dialogues are stail and all of this in no way gives the characters any depth, which means we in turn hardly care for them.
The excessive expletives feel forced into the dialogue, the entrily unnecessary and graphic childbirth scene, and a romance that hinges on a communication breakdown easily resolved with a single conversation, only add to the film’s dreary proceedings. In hindsight, the film’s promo tours with the two leads felt so much more compelling.
Pegged as Lopez’s much awaited return to rom-coms, the film ultimately feels like a letdown. This is especially frustrating given how thanks to Off Campus, Lopez and “On The Floor” is everywhere. Both actors deserved a better script, more romance and most importantly, more comedy.
Office Romance is streaming on Netflix