Partner Track, Elvis & Meet Cute
Hello hello, and happy fall! Today I have a Netflix series for you to binge if you've been missing the millennial-New York-workplace genre, a movie being marketed as a romcom romp that tackles some heavier topics, and a mini-rant about the ways the Elvis movie falls short.
Partner Track: If you've been missing The Bold Type, Netflix's Partner Track is here to fill that void. Based on a novel by Helen Wan, this 10-episode series tells the story of Ingrid Yun, who is desperate to make partner at Parsons Valentine and Hunt where she works with her two best friends. It's part fun and frothy (there's a trying-on-dresses sequence), while still centering on real issues of sexism and racism at the mostly white, mostly male law firm. When a man from Ingrid's past becomes her new co-worker, sparks fly! As Ingrid tries to do everything right to get ahead, she begins to (gasp) make some morally questionable choices. Honestly Ingrid makes a lot of morally questionable choices when she's not practicing law too. But you'll get to that. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a season two!
Meet Cute: Don't be fooled by the, um, cute movie title. Kaley Cuoco and Pete Davidson's new Peacock original movie (it's upsetting that we live in a world with Peacock original movies) isn't a light, happy romcom. Sure it has both romance and comedy, but it centers around Sheila (played by Cuoco), who is using a time machine and date night to escape her crippling depression. Think Palm Springs with conversations about mental health. Despite what the people on Letterboxd are saying, I think Pete Davidson and Kaley Cuoco are excellent in this movie. They both make repeat trips to the same evening feel fresh and original and lean into the quirky tone that Meet Cute uses to tell its story. The rules of time travel don't quite add up here, but because time travel completely freaks me out, I'm certainly not going to dive into details about the logic behind it. I had to pay five dollars to reactivate my Peacock account for this movie, and I think it was worth it.
Elvis: Normally I don't write bad reviews. Trust me, there's plenty I watch that doesn't make it into this newsletter. I like to keep this space positive. Encouraging. Full of good recommendations. But I just have to talk about Elvis. Because Elvis should be a great movie. It has all the potential. A director well-versed in putting on a dizzying, attention-grabbing show. A true star in Austin Butler (I've been a fan since his Carrie Diaries days on the CW). A real-life plot that easily follows storytelling beats. Great music. If the movie was shorter and centered on those elements, it would have been a winner. Unfortunately Tom Hanks comes along and ruins the whole thing. I'm serious. I need to move up my regularly scheduled viewing of You've Got Mail to cleanse my palate. It's not completely Hanks's fault. I don't think. Apparently the accent he's doing isn't accurate, which I'm going to have to put on Mr. Hanks. But I'm going to put the rest of the blame on the direction and writing. No one can describe Baz Luhrmann's directing style as subtle, but the camera consistently cuts to Colonel Tom Parker in way that can only be described as jarring and distracting. He's written into the majority of the scenes in the screenplay, which is a mistake, because Colonel Parker does the same thing over and over again. He prioritizes money and image and himself over Elvis. We get to spend two-and-a-half hours watching him do it over and over again. He's maybe wracked with guilt? The movie's ending doesn't really circle back to that and instead leaves you with a meandering message. Elvis does address the complicated backstory of the rockstar's musical origins but falls short on this mission by taking the easy way out in conversations between Elvis and other performers of color. The most telling statement I can make about the movie is that every single time Austin Butler isn't on screen, I'm counting the minutes until he returns. The best sequence centers on the rehearsal for and filming of a television special. Its interestingly enough a moment when Elvis is trying to break from Colonel Parker's hold. If only the movie had done the same.
