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2 days ago
- Entertainment
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‘Materialists' Review: Dakota Johnson Measures Value Of Love Between Chris Evans And Pedro Pascal in Celine Song's Sublime Romcomdram
Watching writer-director Celine Song's follow-up to her feature debut, indie darling and 2023 Best Picture Oscar nominee Past Lives, all sorts of supposed cinematic influences ran through my mind from Billy Wilder's The Apartment to James L. Brooks' Broadcast News to Mike Nichols' Working Girl and just about anything from Nora Ephron. I left the screening thinking I had just seen the best movie about the search for love in many years. Call it a romcom, call it a romdram or any shorthand attempt to categorize it, but this is a movie that defies that kind of easy description. But on its surface, Materialists easily recalls so many Hollywood confections where the girl is torn between two guys vying for her eternal love. In this case, though, it is a lot more complicated for Lucy, a character perfectly matched with a never-better Dakota Johnson, who, as a matchmaker in a high-end New York City agency called Adore, has a great track record for hooking up others but not herself. Fast-food TV matchmaking The Bachelor this is not. More from Deadline Chris Evans On 'Avengers: Doomsday': "It's Sad To Not Be Back With The Band" 'How To Train Your Dragon' Won't Be Laggin' At Summer Box Office With $175M-$185M Global Start For Live-Action Redo - Preview 'Eddington' Trailer: Joaquin Phoenix Gets Into Standoff With Pedro Pascal In A24's Covid-Era Western From Filmmaker Ari Aster Song actually worked as a matchmaker when she was a struggling NY playwright, and clearly that was the inspiration, or kernel of an idea, to follow up such a widely praised feature debut as Past Lives which in its own unique way has its lead female caught up in a different way between two men and two times of life. It too defied easy definition and, coupled with Materialists, confirms Song one of the most exciting new filmmaking voices of her generation. So Lucy makes about $80,000 a year trying to find perfect matches for high-end clients with a checklist of wants in finding the ideal partner. Vignettes with some of them are hilarious, both for men who want to stop at age 29 as consideration for a match or women with their own quirky needs. In this world, love is a negotiation, and in Lucy's mind — personally and professionally — money is a big part of the attraction. This goes back to her own experience as we see in a quick flashback to the fifth-anniversary date with her boyfriend John (Chris Evans). Both were struggling actors when they met, John had no money, a beat-up car and lived with two obnoxious roommates. On this anniversary date, we see it all blow up as Lucy finally realizes she is sick of being poor, or at least with John. They break up, time passes, and now at the wedding of one of her successful matches, Lucy is a guest and runs into John working with the catering company. We can still see sparks, but it is clearly over. At the same nuptials she meets Harry (Pedro Pascal), brother of the groom, who looks like he has just come out of Central Casting. He's a rich, successful commodities broker living in a $12 million penthouse, suave, charming, handsome — you name it. She calls these 'perfect' guys unicorns, and does not try to pick him up for herself but instead as a potential date and a surefire winner for any number of her female clients. It turns out, and yes in classic romcom fashion, Harry has no interest in them, only in Lucy, and this does lead to the matchmaker checking off her own list and doing something rather unprofessional by caving to Harry's advances. But will it become true love or just another negotiation, one that Harry is just as comfortable entering into as Lucy thinks she is? Meanwhile, John comes in and out of the picture, reminding us he is the one who still loves Lucy for who she was, even if she doesn't quite know now who she is. Song has cast her three leads to perfection. Johnson nails all the insecurity beneath the surface of this seemingly assured businesswoman and is superb in what might be her best screen outing yet. Evans, always a better actor than he is given credit for, doesn't miss a beat as a guy still struggling as an actor and as a man trying to find his true love, and knowing he probably already did – the one that got away. Pascal, in a role that could have been one-dimensional, gives Harry genuine humanity and likability. This is someone we also can root for, and in a key scene where he reveals his surprising vulnerability (it has to do with a kind of plastic surgery I never knew existed), he is heartbreakingly real. The standout among the supporting cast is Zoe Winters, an Adore client who first gets rejected by a match she was willing to settle for and then, in highly dramatic fashion, as the victim of sexual assault by another match set up by Lucy, who understandably is devastated when she learns of the disastrous date she felt responsible for. This sequence goes into much darker territory than any in the genre usually do, but it also feels right in this day and age to address it. Also fine is Marin Ireland as Lucy's boss, a woman who has seen it all, and Louise Jacobson, who turned from Adore client to bride. I have to say another main star of this film is New York City itself, seen as the backdrop of so many romantic comedies but here beautifully shot by cinematographer Shabier Kirchner and dressed by production designer Anthony Gasparro as a city where the perfect match is hard to light. A montage sequence featuring the lilting Harry Nilsson song, 'I Guess the Lord Must Be In New York City' is a true highlight (trivia fact: Nilsson wrote that song for Midnight Cowboy, but it was replaced instead by 'Everybody's Talking (at Me).' Another shout-out goes to Daniel Pemberton's nicely nuanced music score. Materialists comes at the right time for a 'genre' that studios have forgotten audiences still want, and hopefully it will stand out as a nice alternative in a summer of tentpoles and action. Song has made a film that oddly can be admired by romantic purists and cynics, a movie whose end credits take place over the sight of a hugely busy New York Marriage Bureau visually assuring us sometimes people do find that elusive match, or at least hope so. Producers are Song, Christine Vachon, Pamela Koffler and David Hinojosa. Title: MaterialistsDistributor: A24 filmsRelease date: June 13, 2025Director-screenplay: Celine SongCast: Dakota Johnson, Chris Evans, Pedro Pascal, Zoe Winters, Marin Ireland, Louise JacobsonRating: RRunning time: 1 hr, 56 min Best of Deadline List Of Hollywood & Media Layoffs From Paramount To Warner Bros Discovery To CNN & More Sean 'Diddy' Combs Sex-Trafficking Trial Updates: Cassie Ventura's Testimony, $10M Hotel Settlement, Drugs, Violence, & The Feds A Full Timeline Of Blake Lively & Justin Baldoni's 'It Ends With Us' Feud In Court, Online & In The Media
Yahoo
12-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Be a critic from your couch. Cast your vote for the 2025 Best Picture with Movie Meter
The Super Bowl of movies is almost here and we know that you're just as excited as we are. To help you show your love and appreciation for motion pictures, The Arizona Republic is partnering with USA TODAY to launch the USA TODAY Movie Meter, a way to let you choose the nation's best film of the year. Award shows are not just an event for those attending, but for the viewers at home as well. This year is stacked with some great nominees and you don't want to miss out on what all the hype is about, you can catch up from the comfort of your couch or at your favorite Arizona theater. After you've checked out what's up for the 2025 Best Picture Oscar, you can join the fun and be a critic from your couch from now through March 2 at 11 p.m. MST. Your vote will matter as USA TODAY Movie Meter harnesses the opinions of the public, not industry insiders, to rate the year's most beloved film based on the movies nominated by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for the Academy Awards. The USA TODAY Movie Meter winner will be announced live on the "TODAY Show" on March 3. Alex Coco, Samantha Quan and Sean Baker, Producers Nominees to be determined Fred Berger, James Mangold and Alex Heineman, Producers Tessa Ross, Juliette Howell and Michael A. Jackman, Producers Mary Parent, Cale Boyter, Tanya Lapointe and Denis Villeneuve, Producers Pascal Caucheteux and Jacques Audiard, Producers Nominees to be determined Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner and Joslyn Barnes, Producers Nominees to be determined Marc Platt, Producer Movie Meter builds on the popularity of Ad Meter, which USA TODAY launched in 1989 and has become the leading tracker of public opinion on Super Bowl ads. 'Movie Meter expands panelist ratings into the world of cinema, creating a new standard for audience-driven awards,' said USA TODAY Senior Vice President Monica Richardson. 'USA TODAY is evolving our content to better serve our audiences, and Movie Meter is a testament to that commitment. USA TODAY Movie Meter seeks to be the industry's leading opinion tool to gauge true public sentiment regarding films and their impact on consumers. We are creating a platform that truly reflects the voices of everyday Americans.' Reach the reporter at Follow @dina_kaur on X, formerly known as Twitter. Subscribe to today. This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Who deserves the 2025 Best Picture Oscar? You decide with Movie Meter
