Film Review: Set It Up

Directed by: Claire Scanlon
Starring: Zoey Deutch, Glen Powell, Lucy Liu, Taye Diggs, Pete Davidson, Joan Smalls, Meredith Hagner, Tituss Burgess
Rating: N/A
Genre: Romantic Comedy
Runtime: 1 hr. 45 min.

Netflix has been cranking out films left and right. With over 80 set to release this year alone (and almost 30 out so far), it's possible that the quality across the board will take a hit. Set It Up is no exception.

The plot centers around Harper (Zoey Deutch) and Charlie (Glen Powell), New York assistants tired of living lives in their boss' revolving door. Together they hatch a plan to couple their employers (played by Lucy Liu and Taye Diggs), so they can finally attend to personal matters. Charlie wants time to date his vapid girlfriend, Suze (Joan Smalls), while Harper hopes to finally finish the article that will bring her into the big leagues. As with most romantic comedies the result is heavy-handed and ridden with clichés.

The first hour though, has some legitimately funny banter and situational comedy. Charlie's roommate Duncan (Pete Davidson) offers some great deadpan retorts, and an incident in an elevator leads to fairly funny interplay from Creepy Tim (Tituss Burgess). Lucy Liu and Taye Diggs are probably the stars people are here for and they do a great job with solid comedic timing and general acting chops. The leads, however, falter.

Glen Powell's Charlie is a try-hard Brad Pitt-type, while Zoey Deutch does her best to channel Ellen Page in each ditzy moment. For the first hour this dichotomy works, but once the film decides to follow the clichéd emotional downturn they just don't have what it takes to make it believable.

In fact the latter half of the film understands it's leading into cliché territory, so it continues to try to rattle it with more awkward comedy, and hurried plot points. A fight in a jewelery store is eyerolling, and -as you might have guessed- there's definitely a scene where someone preaches a confession to someone standing on a balcony above them. Instead of letting the ending breathe the audience is leapt quickly through forced plot points so we can arrive at the predictable conclusion.

VERDICT
Set It Up is a serviceable romantic comedy. Bingeable material, but offers little to make it worth seeking out. Don't waste a date night on this one. 2/5

- The Catalyst