Peacock – Credits Rolling

Bernard (Paapa Essiedu) is a workaholic and it’s affecting his family life. Missing his daughter’s birthday is one step too far for his wife Julie (Denée Benton). In an attempt to win back his family in time for the holidays, Bernard enlists the help of a genie named Flora (Melissa McCarthy).

Let’s get one thing straight – the main reason why I wanted to watch Genie was because of Richard Curtis. The man behind Four Weddings and A Funeral, Love Actually and About Time is back was back! While the film was far from brilliant, I have to say I liked it more than I thought I would.

Taking place in New York City, down on his luck Bernard is instantly relatable. You want him to win back his family even when he makes questionable decisions. The story picks up quickly, especially when Flora is introduced and the two embark on quite the journey together. McCarthy has the tendency to annoy me so I was surprised to find that that wasn’t the case in this film.

While it was entertaining enough, there was still a lot of room for improvement. The way in which some of the scenes were shot was questionable. For example, the birds’ eye view of the city looked like a miniature village and seemed cheap as a result. I also found the whole Mona Lisa picture swap storyline unnecessary. It’s like they were trying to fit in a whole bunch of obstacles for Bernard to overcome when it could have gone in a more reasonable direction.

I was on the fence about watching Genie and yet I’m ultimately glad that I gave it a shot. it had some rather enjoyable moments and I appreciated the Christmas vibes that went along with it. I probably won’t remember much about it in week’s time, but that’s okay.

Rating: ♥️♥️.5

If you could go back and change one thing about your life, would you?

When Sheila (Kaley Cuoco) walks into a bar one night and meets Gary (Pete Davidson), she is instantly smitten with him. He’s everything she’s ever wanted in a partner and after spending a magical time together exploring the streets of New York City, she doesn’t want to let him go. So she doesn’t. Because Sheila has been going back in time, twenty four hours to be exact, for who awhile now. Having found a time machine in the back of a nail salon, Sheila believes that if she uses it, she can fix the imperfections about Gary while also dealing with her own.

The premise of Meet Cute is an interesting one. The Groundhog Day trope is not new, but it is one that has always fascinated me. I was excited to see how Sheila and Gary would develop their relationship over the span of seemingly one night and, mainly, the reasoning behind it all. Unfortunately the execution did not turn out as well as I had anticipated.

As the film goes on, the audience learns more about Sheila, but not as much about Gary. We understand that she has been using the time machine at first for one night, then one week later and then three months etc. The layers are peeled back and there is more than meets the eye here. Sheila has a dark past that she doesn’t want to deal with anymore, but instead of wanting to fix it, she digs herself deeper.

There is no change to the various dates that Sheila goes on with Gary. The conversation remains the same and they do more or less the same types of activities too. What started off as cute and endearing quickly turns boring. I kept wondering when that light would go on in her head that made her realize she had more to live for.

I appreciated the strong moral of the story being that while we all have emotional baggage, that is what makes us us and if we try to change it, we change who we are as individuals. With such a profound sentiment, you’d think it would be at the forefront. Because it wasn’t, it didn’t come together well enough.

Meet Cute isn’t a bad movie by any means. I just feel like it was trying to be two different things and it never really came together.

Rating: ♥♥.5