Office Romance
★★★
There was a time when romantic comedies starring two major stars were a staple of the multiplex. That's part of what makes Netflix's Office Romance feel oddly nostalgic. If you had told me a few years ago that a rom-com starring Brett Goldstein and Jennifer Lopez would exist, I never would have believed you.
Honestly, until recently, I never thought of Goldstein as a romantic lead at all. Like many people, I mostly associated him with Roy Kent from Ted Lasso. It wasn't until seeing him show a little more emotional range in Shrinking that I started to see him as something beyond the gruff, perpetually annoyed football legend. Even so, pairing him with Jennifer Lopez wasn't exactly on my bingo card.
The movie itself feels like a throwback to the late-'90s and early-2000s era of studio romantic comedies. It doesn't belong in the pantheon of great rom-coms, but that's probably not what it's aiming for. This is comfort-food filmmaking.
The story centers on an airline company with a strict no-dating policy among employees. Goldstein plays one of the company's attorneys who suddenly finds himself elevated into a larger leadership role after his boss, played by the always-welcome Bradley Whitford, suffers a medical emergency. That promotion brings him into close contact with Jennifer Lopez's character, the founder's daughter and the company's hardworking CEO. Naturally, sparks begin to fly.
And I do mean naturally. The attraction happens almost immediately.
The rest of the movie follows the familiar rom-com formula as the two attempt to keep their relationship hidden from coworkers while navigating the complications that come with mixing business and romance. There aren't many surprises here, but my expectations were pretty low going in, and I ended up enjoying myself more than I expected.
The movie made me laugh more often than I thought it would, although there are definitely more cringe-inducing moments than genuinely funny ones. Still, Goldstein and Lopez have better chemistry than I anticipated. I never fully bought them as a dream pairing, but the script does its best to bridge that gap by giving Lopez's character a very specific attraction to British men, which becomes a recurring joke throughout the film.
The real MVP, though, might be Betty Gilpin. I've been a fan of hers since GLOW, and she's terrific here as one of Lopez's coworkers. She's intensely career-driven, heavily pregnant, perpetually stressed and seemingly incapable of acting normal for even a few seconds at a time. Her utter disdain for Goldstein's character leads to some of the movie's funniest moments, and she routinely steals scenes whenever she appears.
The supporting cast is full of recognizable faces, although not all of them are used particularly well. Tony Hale, in particular, feels completely underutilized. He's one of those performers who can elevate almost anything, but he's barely given enough screen time to make an impact. It honestly made me wonder if some material ended up on the cutting-room floor.
Which brings me to my biggest complaint: this movie is way too long.
At nearly two hours, Office Romance feels bloated for a genre that usually thrives on efficiency. Streaming movies don't have the same runtime pressures as theatrical releases, and sometimes that freedom works against them. There are stretches here that could have easily been trimmed without losing anything important.
In fact, this was the kind of movie where I found myself frequently tempted to glance at my phone. I never felt like I was going to miss anything essential. Everything unfolds exactly the way you expect.
The film's R rating is also a little strange. Most of it comes from language, with a handful of more adult jokes sprinkled throughout. The problem is that the raunchier humor never really lands. It feels like the movie wants to flirt with the gross-out comedy of something like There's Something About Mary, but never commits fully enough to make those moments memorable. Honestly, this feels like a movie that probably would have worked just as well, if not better, as a PG-13 romantic comedy.
At the end of the day, Office Romance is perfectly serviceable. It's probably not a movie you'll remember six months from now, but if you're in the mood for an easygoing rom-com and don't want to think too hard, you'll likely have a pleasant enough time.
I really admire Brett Goldstein's writing and comedic instincts, but this project never feels fully in his wheelhouse. Still, not every romantic comedy needs to reinvent the genre. Sometimes it's enough to spend a couple of hours with likable actors, a few decent laughs and a story that goes down easy.
Office Romance won't become anyone's favorite rom-com, but for a lazy Sunday afternoon watch, you could certainly do worse.
