Updated
Updated · The Guardian · Jun 5
Jennifer Lopez's R-Rated Netflix Romcom Office Romance Falters on June 5 as Critics Fault Chemistry
Updated
Updated · The Guardian · Jun 5

Jennifer Lopez's R-Rated Netflix Romcom Office Romance Falters on June 5 as Critics Fault Chemistry

3 articles · Updated · The Guardian · Jun 5

Summary

  • Office Romance debuted on Netflix on June 5 with a sharply negative review that says Jennifer Lopez's latest romcom feels slick but lifeless, calling it "too much like hard work."
  • The R-rated film was marketed as a raunchier return to a genre Lopez once dominated, but the review says its swearing, double entendres and sex scenes never justify the edgier label.
  • Brett Goldstein, who co-wrote and co-stars as lawyer Daniel opposite Lopez's airline CEO Jackie, is singled out as a weak romantic match, leaving the forbidden workplace relationship hard to believe.
  • Betty Gilpin earns the strongest notice as Jackie's sarcastic friend and colleague, supplying what the review describes as the movie's only vaguely funny moments.
  • The verdict adds to criticism that Netflix can deliver streaming scale for Lopez, but not the spark needed to revive a romcom genre the review says remains stuck in a long flop era.

Insights

Why did a rom-com written for Jennifer Lopez fail on chemistry, the one thing the genre needs most?
Does this film's failure prove Netflix's data-driven strategy can't manufacture the spark of a great rom-com?
If the director admitted chemistry was a 'challenge,' why was a film built on romance still released?