I’ve always loved rom-coms. However, during the last few years, I barely watched any movies because all of my watching time was spent on Youtube or TV shows. Well, that changed during lockdown(s) when I was having pretty regular movie nights where the movie of choice was a rom-com most of the time.
In this post, I’m sharing my thoughts on 5 rom-coms I’ve seen on Netflix this year. Let’s find out which ones I found worthy of my time.
Love, Guaranteed
A guy named Nick goes on 3 dates every day using a dating app that guarantees love and after almost 1,000 dates and not finding love, he wants to sue the app. Susan owns a struggling law firm and takes on his case to save her business, and obviously, both parties get more invested in the case and each other than they anticipated.
My main complaint about this rom-com is the pacing. It’s rather slow for a good portion of it and then it gets wrapped up quickly (with an overly grand gesture on top). There was also a scene at a restaurant from one of Nick’s dates I really didn’t appreciate.
Other than that, the movie was quite fun and pleasant to watch. The main characters were likable enough and there was nice chemistry between them from the beginning. Susan also tries a dating app for the first time “for research” during the case and a lot of people will probably find her or Nick’s experiences with the online dating world relatable.
Is this movie worth your time?
If you don’t mind grand gestures then yes, I’d say this movie is worth your time.
Rating: 4/5
Set It Up
Two corporate executive assistants have insufferable bosses and decide to play matchmakers so that they’d spend less time at work. I didn’t like this movie very much. The characters were unlikeable and there wasn’t much chemistry to be found between the two couples.
It was really cringy and uncomfortable to watch how the bosses treated their employees (they were toxic bordering on abusive). The guy literally violently destroys a laptop in the trailer, is that supposed to be funny? And then there were some more questionable, cringy scenes that tested my patience with this movie.
The best scene was when the characters were eating pizza because… pizza. I originally rated this 3 stars but in hindsight, I’m lowering it to 2 stars because it’s really not pleasant to think back on it.
Is this movie worth your time?
I vote for “nope”.
Rating: 2/5
Leap Year
Our main character Anna is determined to propose to her boyfriend on February 29 so she follows him to Dublin. However, her travel plans get thwarted by bad weather and she ends up meeting a man in a small Irish town.
The movie made it really easy to root for this new romance because Anna’s boyfriend was insufferable (but played by Adam Scott, which was a plus). The stark contrast between an American city girl and the life in the Irish countryside was bound to bring a lot of hilarious, sometimes cringy, and sometimes over-the-top situations.
I have to say I wasn’t completely sold on the romance. I’m undecided if going through everything they did together during the multiple-day journey would actually lead to such a strong bond, or if the adventure would fade into an amusing tale to tell a year or so later. Still, the story felt quite fresh and entertaining (plus there were some scenic shots) so it fulfilled its purpose and I don’t regret watching it.
Is this movie worth your time?
Yes, but prepare for some cringe.
Rating: 4/5
To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before
Lara Jean has been writing unsent letters to her crushes her whole life. After the letters are sent out one day, she has to deal with the consequences.
I know this might be an unpopular opinion but I wasn’t a big fan of this book-to-movie adaptation (there are 3 books and movies in total in the series). I gave both the first book and the movie 3 stars and I don’t feel compelled to continue watching or reading the story.
It’s true that I prefer adult romances but there are still some young adult stories I loved. In this case, I found the main character quite immature and irritating, and the other characters didn’t save the day either (especially the father was more awkward on screen than in the book).
Is this movie worth your time?
This might not be fair of me to decide as I’m not the target audience but you’re probably more likely to enjoy this if you love high-school romances with a lot of drama.
Rating: 3/5
Ginny Weds Sunny
Delhi girl Ginny has two guys in her life: the flakey guy she can’t ignore and the new guy named Sunny that her mother is trying to matchmake her with. However, Ginny is not that impressed with him at first.
There’s plenty of love triangle and family drama, and I enjoyed it a lot (it was also quite touching at times). The cultural aspects of their lives and relationship were interesting to see. The songs were such a fun element – when the first one came, I was sold. I also watched this during the deepest lockdown and got reallly emotional (probably the main reason why I gave it 5 stars).
Is this movie worth your time?
Yes!
Rating: 5/5
Have you seen any of these movies or do any of them sound intriguing to you? Also, if you have any rom-com recommendations, please leave them in the comments!
Ooh, I love romcoms! I would love to check out Love, Guaranteed. Is it related to Love, Actually by any chance? And since you asked, some of my favorites include How to be Single and The Other Woman. I’ve watched both so many times!
I haven’t seen Love, Actually for a very long time but I don’t think there are any (or many) similarities :- ) Thanks for the recs, will check them out! :- )
I love a good rom-com! I’ve seen most of these, although I haven’t seen Ginny weds Sunny and now I really want to! The only one I really didn’t like was Leap Year, but I think that’s just because I’m Irish and listening to some awful Irish accents was really difficult haha!
That’s really interesting hearing from someone who’s actually Irish! I don’t know much about the film industry so I’m just like “how come they didn’t hire Irish actors” :- D I hope you’ll like Ginny Weds Sunny if you watch it :- )