The Rom Com Catalog

Tag: Victoria Justice

  • ‘A Perfect Pairing’ (2022) Review

    ‘A Perfect Pairing’ (2022) Review

    Lola (Victoria Justice) is a wine executive who quits her job after her pitch to a potential client is stolen by a co-worker. After deciding to start her own wine company, Lola travels to Australia to win over the client herself. While she’s there, she volunteers to work at the station to prove herself and finds herself in a blossoming romance with the station manager, Max (Adam Demos).

    A Perfect Pairing is a by-the-book rom-com that checks off several required genre beats. It’s certainly not an original idea, as we’ve already seen Netflix offer up something very similar with Falling Inn Love (also starring Demos). However, what A Perfect Pairing has going for it is its lead actress, Victoria Justice. She brings a much-needed spark to an otherwise bland script, creating a fun and charming character in Lola. Lola is sharp and high-energy, and at times, it seems as though Demos (who plays Max) cannot match her quick wit.

    Demos plays Max very quietly and properly, but for the times he’s bantering with Lola. He’s obviously carrying around a few secrets, though they’re certainly not as high-stakes as the movie makes them out to be.

    Like Falling Inn Love, the supporting characters of A Perfect Pairing aren’t terribly interesting either and seem to be placed strategically to drive the “fish out of water” point home. The movie’s antagonist is Calder (Craig Horner), Lola’s boss, who is quite laughable in his attempt to be a “villain.”

    He’s the kind of guy with no redeemable qualities as a person, the kind of boss everyone runs from or slouches over their desks to pretend they’re working so he doesn’t rip them a new a-hole. But he’s honestly not terrifying at all. Just very cliché. I swear he said something akin to, “You’re not quitting. I say when someone quits!” And they dyed his hair gray, though I have no idea why, as he’s clearly not even forty yet. Come on, writers… do better.

    A Perfect Pairing’s biggest disappointment is that, as much as I enjoyed the dialogue between the two leads, it felt like they were trying hard to manufacture some chemistry. But Max felt very one-dimensional, possibly because Demos didn’t give him much personality, and their “black moment” before the HEA is highly contrived and forced. Every rom-com needs conflict, but the conflict in A Perfect Pairing really makes no sense in the grand scheme of things. For what it’s worth, Justice tries really, really hard but unfortunately comes up short.

    That being said, A Perfect Pairing is a touch above some of the more recent rom-coms Netflix has had to offer. With a likable lead, the movie is actually pretty tolerable, especially if you’re spending a rainy afternoon or evening at home. Open up that bottle of wine, make some popcorn, and enjoy watching Victoria Justice boss girl her way to success.

    Watched: 05.19.2022
    Notable Song: Home by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros

    Rating:

  • ‘The First Time’ (2012) Review

    ‘The First Time’ (2012) Review

    At a party where he plans on telling his crush how he feels, Dave (Dylan O’Brien) meets Aubrey (Britt Robertson), a junior in high school, who helps him build up his confidence. The two share an evening getting to know one another, which eventually leads to Dave and Aubrey spending the night together, fully clothed, of course. Meeting Aubrey confuses Dave’s feelings for his friend Jane (Victoria Justice), while Aubrey begins to question her own relationship with Ronny (James Frecheville), a lazy, anti-everything d-bag.

    This is a pretty by-the-book high school romance. But director Jonathan Kasdan does a pretty good job of introducing some fresh ideas regarding high school students losing their virginity. Whereas we see the big moment become ridiculously silly or incredibly romantic and perfect, The First Time aims for realism: the first time is not always everything it’s cracked up to be. In fact, it can be downright disappointing.

    But does that mean you’re not meant for that person? Or is it just a matter of, you know, getting a bit more practice until things, er, work the way they’re supposed to?

    That’s probably the one aspect of this movie I enjoyed, besides Dylan O’Brien and Britt Robertson. The two actors were charming together and had a decent amount of chemistry, but I’m not sure it was enough to pull off the earnest, sometimes silly dialogue.

    There really isn’t much going on in the movie, and the plot is pretty straightforward. The conflict wasn’t incredibly easy to overcome, so there was no doubt about how the film would end. Obviously, with most romances, we always know how it will end, but I want to see the journey more than anything else, and I fully expect it to have a few road bumps. I didn’t get much of that from this movie.

    Dave and Aubrey’s love interests are both vapid and one-dimensional, so we know they’re never a serious threat to keep Dave and Aubrey apart. There was potential with Jane, but Victoria Justice’s character had no depth or personality. We never really know much about her friendship with Dave beyond what Jane tells Aubrey briefly at a party. I found Ronny to be a caricature, someone who was supposed to be the comic relief, but he was more obnoxious than anything else. I could have done with less of that character.

    The First Time has been on my watchlist for a long time, and while it had some cute moments, I found myself disappointed. The potential was there; it just failed in execution and left me feeling a bit more ‘meh.’

    Watched: 11/12/2020
    Notable Song: Vampire’s Kiss by John Gold

    Rating: