Finding love takes some assistants.
Two overworked and underpaid assistants come up with a plan to get their bosses off their backs by setting them up with each other.
Cast: Glen Powell, Zoey Deutch [+]
Director: Claire Scanlon
Writers: Katie Silberman
Producers: Juliet Berman, Carrie Fix, Justin Nappi, Katie Silberman
Cinematographer: Matthew Clark
Editors: Wendy Greene Bricmont
Music: Laura Karpman
Production Company: Treehouse Pictures
- Cast
- Details
- Themes
- Quotes
- Trivia
- Awards & Nominations
Harper: Guys think that they like girls who like sports. What they actually like is a girl in a very tight sports jersey, serving them wings and getting the terminology wrong. Guys like girls who like guys who like sports.
Becca: When I was little, my grandmother, she used to say: “You like because, and you love despite.” You like someone because of all of their qualities, and you love someone despite some of their qualities.
Harper: When my mom was my age, she had me. I’ve never even had a boyfriend.
Charlie: But you’re, like, a grown up.
Harper: Take that back.
Kirsten: A lot of men proposed to me in my twenties. I could be thrice divorced by now.
Harper: [describing Kirsten and Rick] One is a stunningly beautiful woman with dark hair and a fierceness that’s both scary and inspiring. The other’s a guy.
Harper: I’m so sorry. I got here so early that I thought had time to dick around then I went to that gift shop, then I lost track of time and suddenly I was late.
Charlie: That is the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard. That is not a real thing.
Harper: Yes, it is. It’s the over-dick-around thing. I over-dicked it.
Frank: Paying student athletes is such a hot button issue at the moment, you couldn’t back off a little bit? I mean, you’re implying we’re getting rich off the backs of poor kids.
Kirsten: We’re not implying it, we’re proving it. Your AD bought a 2-million dollar boat last year and your star player is on food stamps.
Harper: It’s just like, I worked so hard at being this great assistant and making sure she was happy that… I don’t know, feels like I might have lost any writing skill I ever had.
Charlie: Well, that is definitely not true. You’re a terrible assistant.
Harper: Why are you dressed like that?
Charlie: I don’t work here anymore. I quit working for Rick. Starting over. At 28. Actually, I’m a temp, which is technically lower on the totem pole than an assistant, which is kind of a kick in the nuts. But it’s, um, kind of cool. I get to see a bunch of different jobs. Find out what I actually like. I like you. So, so much. You’re not hard to get at all. You’re hard to earn. It’s so much better.
- The song, Power of Love, by Huey Lews & the News is played in the stadium during the baseball game. The song was the theme song for Back to the Future (1985), which starred Zoey Deutch’s mother, Lea Thompson.
- Glen Powell’s grandmother can be seen sitting in the stands during the baseball game.
- The movie’s premise came from producer Juliet Berman’s real-life attempt to set up her boss with the boss of another assistant she had a crush on. They managed to get their bosses to have dinner together, but no romance sparked from the date.
- Zoey Deutch refused to use the spit bucket during the pizza scene and ended up eating so much pizza that she threw up.
- MGM had originally acquired the rights to the movie, with Emilia Clarke attached as the star. However, after multiple production delays, Clarke had to drop out due to scheduling conflicts with Game of Thrones. With Clarke out, MGM dropped the movie, leading Netflix to pick it up.
- CGI had to be used in the scene where Duncan throws coffee in Rick’s face. According to director Claire Scanlon, Digg’s costume repelled the liquid, so they added the coffee stain in post-production.
- The movie’s original cut was two and a half hours long, so several scenes had to be cut. Claire Scanlon has said the one scene she hated to cut was after the Korean BBQ disaster date between Rick and Kirsten, Charlie “decides to take it upon himself and follow Kirsten to find out more information about what makes her tick. He follows her to a lunch with her mother, so he’s stalking her, but in a very physically astute way.” He ends up eavesdropping on their conversation, where Kirsten’s mother is dismissive of sports journalism.
- Amy Poehler was initially envisioned as Kirsten.
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- Set It Up: the 2018 Netflix romcom that became a classic of the genre [The Guardian]
- ‘Set It Up’ Filmmakers on How They Brought the Rom-Com Into the Modern Age [Variety]
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