Something from Tiffany's movie review (2022)

Deutch doesn't have any chemistry with anyone in the film—including the two men she's found herself between. Sampson gives emotional glances her way, but Deutch gives nothing back in return. Likewise, Nicholson seems to have been directed to play his role with as little facial emotion as possible while having all his natural heat sapped out. Anyone who's seen his work in 2021's YA series "Panic" knows how much he's been sanded down here.

Aside from a lack of chemistry with its stars, one of the main problems with many modern rom-coms is their overemphasis on hitting situational beats and memeable one-liners over crafting interesting, complex characters. Everyone in this film still feels like a concept of a person rather than a real person. The messy heroine who's a ball of fire. The toxic, careless boyfriend. The single dad with a heart of gold. The precocious kid, wise beyond her years. The sassy Black best friend. The fiance who just doesn't fit. 

Weirdly, the one actor able to overcome his stock character trappings is Connor Hines as Gary's ne'er-do-well friend Finn. Introduced in the third act solely to accidentally reveal some information that undermines everything Rachel thought about Gary's hidden depth and selflessness, Hines is absolutely hilarious, and for about five minutes, the film has a discernible pulse. But, unfortunately, there are still about 20 more minutes to plod through after he leaves the picture. 

LCD Soundsystem's melancholic electro-bop "Oh Baby" makes for an unexpected but welcomed needle drop to the film's inevitable conclusion as Deutch does her best Billy Crystal sprint across the city to share her true feelings. Despite the inspired song choice, the moment lands with a dull thud, rehashing a handful of scenes from a few beloved Meg Ryan movies without even a wink or nod. 

Everything, of course, wraps up in a neat little Christmas bow, the numbers painted so completely that any magic of possibility hanging in the air is snuffed out in favor of unearned closure. Rather than the journey of telling the compelling story of two individuals finding love, it's clear that getting to that rote perfect final moment was always the film's only goal.

Now playing on Prime Video.

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