Someone Great is a romantic comedy that sees the union of three leading television actresses unite on film, Jane the Virgin’s Gina Rodriguez, American Dreams’ Brittany Snow, and She’s Gotta Have It’s DeWanda Wise. The film follows the three as a trio of best friends in New York City who spend a day out together as one last hurrah before Jenny, played by Rodriguez, leaves to work at her dream job at Rolling Stone in San Francisco. Meanwhile, the film chronicles Jenny’s recent breakup with her ex Nate (Lakeith Stanfield), with many songs she hears throughout the movie triggering an emotional flashback that marked some significance in their relationship.
In terms of story, the film doesn’t necessarily break any new grounds, and mostly stays in familiar territory. It’s not necessarily the laundry list of cliches as many of Netflix’s other releases this year have been thus far, but it doesn’t do anything that hasn’t been done in other romantic comedies. And it’s not necessarily a bad thing, as long as there are other elements present in the film that can make up for a story that retreads plot lines that have been done already. Luckily, unlike many of Netflix’s other movies released this year, this film pulls no punches in any of its other departments, and the story’s somewhat safe territory becomes something of a moot point.
The film relies heavily on the talents of its three lead actresses, and it succeeds because of it. Rodriguez, Snow, and Wise are all very believable as three best friends. The way they just bounce off each other so quickly is actually incredible. It gets to a point where one may wonder if chunks of their dialogue was improvised, as they fire off playful insults one right after another, and never seem to skip a beat. Parts of this movie are just the three of them sitting around and talking, and to see them given the freedom to just go wild with their conversations is where the movie shines the most, as they bring a much needed consistently high energy with them.
And not only is their chemistry just great, but they are funny. While the film does take some time to have some serious character moments, for the most part, this is just a straight-up funny movie. What’s refreshing is nearly all the humor is dialogue based, with the banter, as mentioned, being incredibly rapid-fire and fast-paced. Many times, it feels like an actual trio of New Yorkers just hanging out and having a conversation about a multitude of random topics, and it keeps the movie grounded in reality.
Sometimes the humor can misfire a bit, as it does bring up many jokes based around drugs, which sometimes gets a bit old after a while, as it’ll occasionally fall into the trap of relying strictly on the reference just to get a laugh, without making an actual joke. But otherwise, it works incredibly well, with playful insults and observations consistently made. It makes the characters all feel like real people, and this, in part with the three actresses’ chemistry, allows the audience to easily root for them.
While the film’s story isn’t anything to really write home about, it’s at least commendable the way in which it approaches certain plot elements. It takes a few cues from other successful films like Up and Searching that start off with an opening montage, and tells all the necessary information before the story starts in a series of texts between all the lead characters. It allows the film to be somewhat exposition heavy for a bit, but still make it feel real without resorting to characters standing around and explaining their relationships to each other.
And what the film doesn’t cover in the opening montage, it handles very well through its use of flashbacks. The one key detail that’s left out of the series of texts is what Jenny and Nate’s relationship was like and what really led to the breakup. The use of songs to trigger a key detail allows for some creative storytelling, and also expertly gets in some much needed character development. What’s also refreshing is that the flashbacks don’t skewer events to how Jenny saw things, and portrays Nate in an equally sympathetic light at times, and allows for him to be a three-dimensional character of his own. This is a movie that ultimately lacks a flat-out antagonist, and it’s good to see from time to time, as sometimes to tell a successful story can be told by two good people just having differing points of views, as that’s a bit more akin to real life.
Additionally, the reliance on the soundtrack really allows for some great pop songs to make their way into this movie. There are a lot of fun scenes in this movie, with songs by Frank Ocean, Lorde, Vampire Weekend, and The Notorious B.I.G. that keep the film moving at a great pace, and give it some solid energy. And not only do these songs drive the story, but they are at times played for laughs, with the main trio singing along to Selena’s “Dreaming of You” that leads to such an unexpected twist that it easily makes for the funniest scene in the movie.
The only complaint as far as character development goes is that the film does lean a bit more towards Jenny, and doesn’t spend as much time with Snow’s Blair or Wise’s Erin. The film doesn’t necessarily toss either to the side, and there are a decent amount of scenes that are dedicated to just one of them, but the film doesn’t revisit their stories consistently enough that it makes the transitions feel smooth. While they’re not one-note characters, there are times where their stories felt slightly rushed as a means to getting back to Jenny’s, and it’s a shame as they’re both well-written characters and while the film didn’t need to add an extra half hour of run time to keep revisiting their stories, it would be great to have seen a few more brief scenes with them in the spotlight.
Someone Great isn’t exactly one of the most original movies out there. While it’s not flat-out generic, it doesn’t venture into any new territory. But what it lacks in the story department, it makes up for with many other key elements. It’s consistently very funny, with some quick-witted, realistic dialogue, thanks to a very charming cast. All three actresses, as well as Lakeith Stanfield, absolutely nail it here, with everyone containing some fantastic chemistry that makes them easy to invest time in and root for. And not only that, it’s a lot of fun, thanks to a wonderful pop soundtrack that keeps the mood light as well as moving the story forward. One of Netflix’s best releases of the year so far, Someone Great is truly something great.
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