The Perfect Date Review

April 12, 2019 at 3:14pm
By Jason Stettner

The Perfect Date is a Netflix Original film that is somewhat generic in its concept, yet still a fairly enjoyable movie. I mean, I enjoyed it. I'm also strangely a sucker for romantic comedies for whatever reason. Moving past that, this story follows a guy that decides to take over a chaperone date with someone's cousin.

There he meets the strangely charming and not interested in the school gala dance Celia (Laura Marano). Brooks (Noah Centineo) decides that this chaperone concept might actually be a good business plan to meet the cost requirements for the university he wishes to attend. There's a minor back story to this that's revealed, and some other side characters but they're mostly just in the background. Definitely forgotten, as the narrative revolves around these two.

After the first night, they hang out a bit more yet Brooks is really set on his app. He enjoys many weird date situations, some of which were rather funny to view. It's rather interesting to see this modern take on what could very well could be a realistic service, even if the setup behind it is hilariously simplified in the movie. I suppose that's to keep the pacing going, if you can look past that element of realism then you're good to go.

Again, The Perfect Date is a very generic film in terms of its setup and what happens within it. It has a modern sense to it, and is very light in content. There's some solid chemistry between the leads and Marano was great in this. That Centineo wasn't too bad either, dressing for the various parts yet still somewhat vanilla throughout it. Can't say I was blown away with the performance by him, but he got the job done and went all in. I would have perhaps liked more of a focus on the side characters, or if they had been pushed aside further.

It's weird to have hints at the lives of the others, when they don't matter in the slightest here. It's just overall a very easy going movie with some decent laughs littered throughout the run time. Very easy to watch and then most likely forget about afterwards. They did a decent job with the setup of the world, with some colorful and unique sets. Quite easy to predict once the premise is setup, but a fine enough journey I suppose. It goes how you would expect this type of movie to go.

The Conclusion

The Perfect Date is a really typical and easy to predict type of romantic comedy, still a decent watch however. I was attentive throughout it and thought there was a good chemistry between the leads. Don't expect anything too wild, it's just a casual thing to view and take in. You'll probably get some laughs, they really lean into the options for being a stand-in at things. It feels like they rush through certain hardships and the plot was weak.

I thought Marano was really good here, surprised by that quite honestly as I wasn't expecting anything upon initial trailer viewing. It's a fine watch, not too long and just a casual watch. Have some laughs, enjoy the quirks and then move on with your life. I will also mention once more that it's laughable how easy it was for them to get that app out there. It's like magic!

The Perfect Date Review at Home with Streamed Viewing

Rating Overall: 6.2