A Perfect Pairing Synopsis: A hard-driving LA wine-company executive travels to an Australian sheep station to land a major client. There she ends up working as a ranch hand and sparking with a rugged local.
Lola (Victoria Justice) is a wine executive who quits her job after her pitch to a potential client is stolen by a co-worker. After deciding to start her own wine company, Lola travels to Australia to win over the client herself. While sheâs there, she volunteers to work at the station to prove herself and finds herself in a blossoming romance with the station manager, Max (Adam Demos).
A Perfect Pairing is a by-the-book rom-com that checks off several required genre beats. Itâs certainly not an original idea, as weâve already seen Netflix offer up something very similar with Falling Inn Love (also starring Demos). However, what A Perfect Pairing has going for it is its lead actress, Victoria Justice. She brings a much-needed spark to an otherwise bland script, creating a fun and charming character in Lola. Lola is sharp and high-energy, and at times, it seems as though Demos (who plays Max) cannot match her quick wit.
Demos plays Max very quiet and proper, but for the times heâs bantering with Lola. Heâs obviously carrying around a few secrets, though theyâre certainly not as high-stakes as the movie makes them out to be.
Like Falling Inn Love, the supporting characters of A Perfect Pairing arenât terribly interesting either and seem to be placed strategically to drive the âfish out of waterâ point home. The movie’s antagonist is Calder (Craig Horner), Lolaâs boss, who is quite laughable in his attempt to be a âvillain.â
Heâs the kind of guy with no redeemable qualities as a person, the kind of boss everyone runs from or slouches over their desks to pretend theyâre working so he doesnât rip them a new a-hole. But heâs honestly not terrifying at all. Just very clichĂŠ. I swear he said something akin to, âYouâre not quitting. I say when someone quits!â And they dyed his hair gray, though I have no idea why, as heâs clearly not even forty yet. Come on, writers⌠do better.
A Perfect Pairingâs biggest disappointment is that as much as I enjoyed the dialogue between the two leads, it felt like they were trying hard to manufacture some chemistry. But Max felt very one-dimensional â which could have been because Demos didnât give him much of a personality â and their âblack momentâ before the HEA is highly contrived and forced. Every rom-com needs conflict, but the conflict in A Perfect Pairing really makes no sense in the grand scheme of things. For what itâs worth, Justice tries really, really hard but unfortunately comes up short.
That being said, A Perfect Pairing is a touch above some of the more recent rom-coms Netflix has had to offer. With a likable lead, the movie is actually pretty tolerable, especially if youâre spending a rainy afternoon or evening at home. Open up that bottle of wine, make some popcorn, and enjoy watching Victoria Justice boss girl her way to success.
Watched: 05.19.2022
Notable Song: Home by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros
