Via A24
By Keith Walther
Sexism, agism, materialism, and even heightism are wrapped in a tight little package for everyone’s viewing pleasure, but there is very little pleasure to be gleaned. “Materialists” is a new romantic comedy that forgets to include the comedy, and simply relies on a love triangle formula that’s been done countless times. With some incredibly flat acting and non-existent chemistry, this is a mundane story that is overpriced and will have you thumbing your nose at it.
As the preeminent matchmaker in New York City, Lucy (Dakota Johnson) has dating down to a science, for everyone except herself of course. As she attends the wedding of one of her many successful connections, she garners the attention of Harry (Pedro Pascal), an extremely wealthy businessman who happens to be single. As luck would have it, she runs into her ex-boyfriend, John (Chris Evans), at the same wedding, finding him in the same state in which she left him.
John is still a starving actor, working part-time as a caterer, and living in a decrepit apartment with sloppy roommates. As Lucy entertains a committed relationship with both men, weighing the pros and cons, she makes a serious mistake in judgment at her work that leaves her client, Sophie (Zoe Winters), completely shattered and traumatized. Trying to fix the situation while fixing her own life to make everyone happy, Lucy seems to make more of a mess of things with an uncertain future looming.
Writer/director Celine Song rightfully received critical acclaim for her debut 2023 film “Past Lives,” in which she was even nominated for a Best Original Screenplay Oscar. For her sophomore effort, the Korean born filmmaker tackles the age-old love triangle concept, like her husband, Justin Kuritzkes, did last year with “Challengers.” Despite Song’s uniquely modern perspective with romance, “Materialists” is the same old story…girl gets wooed by a rich dude, only to be seduced by deeper feelings for an old flame who is on the opposite end of the financial spectrum. Gee, wonder how that plays out. The obvious, formulaic predictability of this common plot wouldn’t matter that much if there was other amusement to be had.
Unfortunately, Song’s rare attempts at humor fall completely flat, leaving the story dry and devoid of life. The monologue rants she incorporates are contrived and unrealistic, the hyperfocus on men’s height comes across as weird and out-of-touch, and dragging scenes out longer than needed slow the pace to an agonizing crawl. There is not even an attempt at backstory to learn more about these main characters, especially the previous romance, with only flashback snippets being used to convey that connection. Instead, she incorporates a random subplot that adds nothing to the main storyline, but is simply used as a means to provide unnecessary commentary on the danger of dating for women. The only things Celine Song gets right in this production is the music and cinematography, otherwise, the film is soulless and worthless.
The acting is another major weakness of this film that steals the soul from this story. By now, it should come as no surprise that Dakota Johnson’s performance is dreadful. The star of last year’s laugher, “Madame Web,” presents a very unlikable, judgmental and condescending character without any redeemable traits. To make matters worse, her line delivery is monotone and devoid of emotional inflection, which makes her excessively long monologues feel even longer. She also has no believable romantic chemistry whatsoever with her two male costars, especially Chis Evans. Ironically, her character admits several times in the movie how she could never make it as an actor, she should take heed.
Chris Evans is another fairly robotic actor who has trouble with dramatic roles. His character portrayal shows a weak male, unable to get his life together or get over his feelings for a woman who treated him like garbage years earlier, but still returns with his tail wagging to his woman master like a lost puppy. Pedro Pascal on the other hand has that natural charisma and smooth line delivery that makes him an appealing watch regardless of the type of film or show he appears. However, with eight productions over this past calendar year, Pascal saturation is starting to take its toll.
Don’t be fooled by the high Rotten Tomatoes scores, because critics have become overly enamored with filmmaker Celine Song after her first film and feel she can do no wrong. To put in bluntly, “Materialists” is just plain boring with absolutely no sense of humor and a cynical perspective on today’s dating landscape. The only sense of anticipation you will feel from this two-hour movie is looking forward to its drawn-out conclusion so you can finally leave the theater.
This movie earns
