Image: Netflix
A clever side hustle turns into more than a high school senior bargains for in the new Netflix comedy The Perfect Date from director Chris Nelson (Date and Switch). Brooks Rattigan (Noah Centineo, going for a third original rom com in the past year after To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before and Sierra Burgess Is a Loser), is a modest but ambitious sandwich maker who is struggling to write his college admissions essay that will land him a prestigious place at Yale University. Dreaming of the Ivy Leagues but trapped in the ‘burbs, he jumps at the opportunity to ‘stand in’ for a date to a school formal at the elite part of town by escorting Celia Lieberman (Laura Marano-Austin and Ally).
Celia is the edgy, sardonic girl who does not for an instant forget that she’s paid by her cousin to be escorted by Brooks. She does not expect the classic chivalry of a first date nr does she lack initiative, claiming that she can “open her own doors.” Answering Brooks’ confusion about why the cool people at a formal don’t dance, she wryly observes that “people don’t dance at the dance. They come here to take photos for their Instagram, pretty sure that’s why people have babies now.” She’s as apt at pointing out people’s fake exteriors as she is endearing, as her own dance moves belie that she cares more about Brooks’ approval of her than she lets on. Her girl competition is embodied by Riverdale’s Camila Mendes as popular girl Shelby, whose grace and wealth catch the eye of the paid suitor, although unbeknownst to her his seemingly impressive background begins to unravel. Ostensibly uncertain about her own future after graduation, she rolls off a script about doing an MBA and joining a hedge fund, and then making her big decision.
Insofar as this becomes a boy meets girl/loses her formula, it’s equally an examination of the gig economy and the notion of the hustle. There’s something deliciously amusing about Brooks’ assertion that he’s an entrepreneur, as he becomes the frat boy type that becomes enveloped in the age of start ups and side hustles. Dating in the digital age has progressed so much faster than You’ve Got Mail and the custom-built, user experience that he markets to rich girls in need of a chaperone almost sounds like a TedX talk. During a funky sequence of The Killer’s “The Man,” he fashions into an art critic, cowboy and tennis partner, changing costumes and shape-shifting into so many modes and personalities that it’s no surprise at all that even does not know who he’s supposed to be. This has to be the most PG rated gigolo movie to date.
Cue to one of the most restrained, yet poignant father to son chats from Brooks’ Dad (Matt Walsh-Veep) about not knowing who the hell they are anyway as “we’re all just figuring it out as we go along.” Any more and this would be a complete teen drama, but it ends at just the right moment before Brooks vows to be more mature.
Before he can make his amends, he must face the self-respect and dignity of Celia who feistily reminds him that she is not the back-up option. All the while, she opens up and this is where the teen element comes into, least you think this breaks the mould of the genre. Diving into the heart of who they both are, they realise as we sort of do that we’re more than the bullets points on a resume and the parties we frequent, although this observation is really made in the first third of the movie and the rest of it is enjoyment at seeing how many desperate people swipe the app.
This is the digital age after all.
Verdict: 7.5/10
Netflix Australia
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