Some films are meant to be over the top with little to no realism. Some films are too realistic. The New Romantic is over the top in concept and premise but tries to pass itself off as an independent film.
Being a sugar baby is a thing because this film says so. Being a sugar baby is better than being a prostitute. The film takes us into a world where student debt is really high (so not Canada) and no one goes to class.
Blake (Jessica Barden) is a humanities major who is concerned about losing her sex column, which isn't really about sex. She has a narrative line early on looking down on college guys like she's 31. For someone in her early 20s in real life and looks 14, she comes across as a star-struck, whiny 14-year-old who labels herself as a "hopeless romantic."
Blake somehow ends up as a sugar baby with Ian Brooks (Timm Sharp), a professor who somehow needs the company of this whiny college student. Even the actors don't think this is believable.
Blake is also using the "sugar baby" experience to get a gonzo journalism award, which is difficult to imagine since she isn't studying to be a journalist. The sugar baby thing looks great since it has all the advantages of being a hooker with none of the bad parts. Realism doesn't belong here.
Blake goes on a failed date with a journalist friend Jacob (Brett Dier) so you know eventually they will get together.
River (Avan Jogia) plays their boss at the school paper. River is the only character drawn beyond a single dimension and is the only actor having fun in this film.
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Carly Stone was a writer for Kim's Convenience before writing and directing her debut feature film. There is an interesting concept about a young woman dealing with finding romance in an atypical fashion. Unfortunately, inane dialogue and cardboard acting does injustice to the concept. Blake and her best friend Nikki (Hayley Law) have an actual conversation about Marie Antoinette being a teen idol who slept with everyone and being beheaded for being slutty. Maybe they were kidding but the viewer can't tell.
If Nora Ephron hadn't passed away in 2012, she could sue based on the comparison to her films. Even if you aren't a rom-com fan, you can recognise that Ephron brought real people together. Stone was watching those films but not really paying nuanced attention to her work.
In a Canadian film that isn't designed to look like anywhere, Stone cast 3 Canadians (Law, Dier, Jogia) and 3 non-Canadians (Barden, Camila Mendes, Sharp) in the 6 primary roles. Barden is completely wrong for this role. The high-pitched voice, the person who doesn't get noticed. She clearly can act, but like her co-stars, she doesn't have much to work with in the script.
A fantasy, under-realistic film can be worth 80 minutes of your time. You should be entertained by a film with that concept. The New Romantic can't even deliver on that front.
The New Romantic is just the Canadian film that Netflix adores: a not-very-good Canadian film that doesn't look the least bit Canadian.
video credit: YouTube/Zero Media
photo credit: The New Romantic film
what a cute video and picture. Amazing blog. ;)
Posted by: G Decor | April 29, 2021 at 07:51 AM