I heard the movie before I saw it.
I heard the crunch of gravel while the screen was still black. And then I thought I was in the wrong theater. It looked like a documentary about cavemen. Then once I saw the main character, Lucy, putting on makeup and heard her talk about marriage as a business transaction, it made sense.
This week, I was treated to a screening of Materialists, the new movie starring Dakota Johnson as a matchmaker, Lucy, and her two love interests, Chris Evans, as her former boyfriend John, and Pedro Pascal, her unicorn love interest, Harry. As a matchmaker, Lucy isn’t matching people for love, especially in cynical New York City, where you look at their shoes, car, purse or haircut before their eyes or smile.
The scriptwriter and director, Celine Song, impressed me when I saw Past Lives in the theater last year. Her future movies will definitely be on my to-watch list with these two wins under her belt. Song’s Lucy talks about matchmaking like it’s actuarial science, and she’s not wrong.
- Height – 2 inches makes a big difference. Lots of snickering in the audience whenever this comes up.
- Income – anything less than 200k isn’t worth it
- Job – doctor, lawyer, finance
- Age – this one cracked me up. Men in their late 40s looking for women in their 20s. Women in their late 30s balking at men younger than them.
Materialists isn’t a romantic comedy. There’s nothing funny about matchmaking. It’s a nightmare and horror show if you’re in the thick of it. I would call the movie a romantic dramedy – heavy on drama with a light sprinkle of dry comedy that still got chuckles out of the crowd. What can I say? A lot of cynics in the audience. One plus of this dramedy? It centers a love triangle, which never gets old.
Some other love triangle movies to think about:
Something Borrowed
Sweet Home Alabama
It’s Complicated
Some Kind of Wonderful
The Graduate
Pearl Harbor
This Means War
While You Were Sleeping (does it count if one of the corners of the triangle was in a coma for most of the movie?)
Indecent Proposal
As the movie progresses, Lucy and her romantic interests discuss their value and worth as prospective partners. But what would I know about the value and worth of a partner? I’ve been single for more than 20 years.
On a side note? Louisa Jacobson got a very meaty but short role with 5 minutes of screen time. I love her acting and the role she plays in The Gilded Age, and was not surprised to learn that she was Meryl Streep’s daughter during the first year of that show. Jacobson also plays the ideal love match in Materialists, and Lucy’s 9th match to result in a wedding. The key to the match? Matched upbringing, income, education, and height requirements.
As for the movie, I wasn’t expecting much other than another romantic comedy, so I was surprised to find myself thinking about how I’ve approached relationships and looking for a partner. The moments of introspection while I watched the movie were leading me down the path of wondering, “Should I have listened to my parents (who had an arranged marriage) when they said I should look for someone who matched my upbringing, income, education?”
Obviously, I’ve been looking for love in all the wrong places.
Bonus: Before the movie, we were given a card with a QR code on it. The code took me to a website, where I could answer a few questions, and it would rate me as an investment and return in terms of a relationship. Try it out yourself.
My results: I’m a mid-tier investment with a mid to high rate of return.
Sravanthi Meka 