The Perfect Date (2019)

[paulvdb]

Quote

Brooks Rattigan (Noah Centineo) has the academic chops to get into his dream Ivy League school, but what he's missing is an outstanding extracurricular - and the money. When he seizes on an opportunity to make some extra cash by posing as the boyfriend of a self-assured, combat boot-loving girl named Celia Lieberman (Laura Marano), he finds he has a knack for being the perfect stand-in. Together with his programmer friend Murph (Odiseas Georgiadis), Brooks launches an app selling himself as a plus-one for all occasions. Along the way, he meets the girl of his dreams (Camila Mendes). But when business starts to boom, Brooks must reassess everything he was once sure of.

Premieres April 12 on Netflix.

I liked Noah Centineo and Camila Mendes in other roles. And I liked some of the other Netflix romantic comedies so I'll be watching this.

[Scarlett45]

Yes it’s on my list. Looks charming. 

[Glory]

I thought this was super cute. It's no "To All the Boys" but that's a pretty hard bar to beat. 

I really liked the leading lady, though. She was really great. 

[BooBear]

I didn't love it. It was flat and I didn't get any romantic vibes with the leading lady. Just BFF.  She was also trying too hard to be "the rebel" and didn't create a believable or interesting character. 

[haje]

I know Noah is the go-to teen romcom hero now, and I understand why because he's charming and is extremely good at looking at his leading ladies adoringly which is key for a romcom, but this and Sierra Burgess really shows how essential having a really good leading lady is for him to really work for me. He's still charming! But at this point, he's played variations of the same character times now and the only time I've felt any genuine spark is when he's with Lana Condor (who doesn't nearly get enough credit for that movie and that pairing! she's a perfect romcom lead). Obviously the writing also helps!

I thought this was an okay film, there's definitely been worse Netflix romcoms, but I agree, it felt very flat.

Edited April 15, 2019 by haje

[Lyinfait]

Well said, haje. I did feel that Brooks was a variant of the other characters I have seen Noah play. He's charming and all but the film doesn't have the charm of To All the Boys. I definitely agree that it is the leading lady that makes the difference. I disliked Sierra Burgess and didn't form much of an opinion on Cecilia. She had a clear "character"-the rebel snarky friend who gets overlooked until she isn't. It was all paint by the numbers. I'm not sure what would make her character better for me but it was missing something. Maybe I glanced away too often but I hardly thought they had interacted enough to have developed any real feelings for one another, let alone enough for dramatic declarations. 

[methodwriter85]

I did think it was a little flat, but okay. One thing that kind of bugged me is that he let Veronica Lodge think he came from Darien, CT but he showed up for the prom in his regular beater old car. I didn't think it was realistic- the character as built would have either tried get the fancy BMW from the dickhead dude or he would have rented a limo/nicer car. And Veronica Lodge (her character was so paperthin that I didn't even bother remembering her name) should have had some kind of moment where she takes in the kind of car that Brooks is driving, given that she expected him to be from Darien.

[Whimsy]

On 4/29/2019 at 4:32 AM, methodwriter85 said:

I did think it was a little flat, but okay. One thing that kind of bugged me is that he let Veronica Lodge think he came from Darien, CT but he showed up for the prom in his regular beater old car. I didn't think it was realistic- the character as built would have either tried get the fancy BMW from the dickhead dude or he would have rented a limo/nicer car. And Veronica Lodge (her character was so paperthin that I didn't even bother remembering her name) should have had some kind of moment where she takes in the kind of car that Brooks is driving, given that she expected him to be from Darien.

I was bored so I watched this. I thought it was just a rehash of Loverboy (except more PG in that there was definite sex in Loverboy even if it wasn’t explicit in showing it) with a little bit of Can’t Buy Me Love- two Patrick Dempsey classics.  There is NO WAY he was earning enough to go to Yale. Was it just a semester he was saving for? Lol

but, yeah, that was my first thought when he showed up at prom with his own car. I expected a reaction from her the second she saw the car. If she truly thought he was rich she would have immediately questioned it.  

Extremely predictable, but not so bad I shut it off so I guess that’s saying something.  

[stonehaven]

I liked it but I thought the most interesting aspect of the "date" scenario was when he went out with the elderly lady..just for a walk and talk. That seemed an interesting premise for another movie that could be explored. 

I liked it..filled a need on a Saturday night..the lead guy brought the pretty...not really sure I'd see it again.