J.Lo Meets ‘Ted Lasso’ in Surprising Netflix Rom-Com ‘Office Romance’

This week:

• You better believe I watched the new J.Lo rom-com.
• An ode to the Tina Fey Netflix comfort watch.
• An ode to the Kate Hudson Netflix comfort watch.
• The best tweet of the week.

It’s J.Lo Rom-Com Season, Everyone Celebrate

There are certain people in the world (me) for whom a romantic comedy pairing of Jennifer Lopez and Ted Lasso Emmy-winner Brett Goldstein is ideal.

There’s Jennifer Lopez, royalty of the genre, incandescent movie star, and patron saint of Kevin Fallon’s joy. And there’s Goldstein, the grouchy and scowling Roy Kent with an irresistible heart of gold beating beneath that oh-so-masculine hairy chest.

Reviews of rom-coms are reliably insufferable, rejecting the expected beats of the genre as lazy and the predictability as juvenile. If you see my eyes bouncing somewhere down the West Side Highway, please grab them for me. I seem to have rolled them too hard.

Office Romance is a prime example of giving the people who want to watch a movie like this exactly what they want. For rom-com lovers, yeah, it’s predictable. Thank god for that. It’s so satisfying.

In the film, J.Lo plays Jackie Cruz, the president and CEO of an airline she started with her father. Goldstein is Daniel Blanchflower—what a name—a buttoned-up Brit getting used to American mannerisms, but a helluva lawyer who just started representing Jackie and the airline.

They bristle at first, mostly because his stammering at the slow-motion reveal of her stunning beauty throws him. But then he kills it in a deposition and wins back her favor. “I know I didn’t make a great first impression,” he says. “But to be fair, you do glow, and those are amazing shoes.”

Sparks fly, in their own unusual way, given what an odd coupling Jackie and Daniel seem at first—and given that Goldstein, who wrote this with Joe Kelly, is a new and unique voice in the world of romantic comedies. For example, this may be the first rom-com meet-cute to involve a raging erection.

It’s jarring at first, but then pretty delightful to have Goldstein’s slightly crass British sensibility infiltrate the typically glossy and polished J.Lo SCU. (Swooning Cinematic Universe, if you’ve already forgotten.)

Daniel’s extended monologue about the British use of the c-word is destined to be a classic. And Lopez seems to have a blast with the dialogue, tossing around innuendos and raunchy sex details with a hilarious frankness, and using the f-word with an abandon and lightness that suggests she finally feels freedom to speak on screen the way she might in real life.

She even says “whee!” at one point while her character flies a plane. Has J.Lo ever cheered “whee!” before?

As for the “graphic nudity” warning that accompanies the R-rating, there’s a birth scene that pays homage to the one in Knocked Up, yet also says, “Hold my beer…”

Lopez and Goldstein have surprising chemistry for how strangely matched they may seem on paper. It’s no wonder rumors have been flying that they were hooking up in real life.

Rom-coms these days are rarely actually sexy, and while Office Romance isn’t exactly sending libidos into overdrive—let’s face it, that title isn’t exactly the hottest—there is a pleasant steaminess to their connection. You can tell how much fun the actors, and as such, their characters, are having, which also makes it more fun to watch them be so desperate to jump each other’s bones.

The other hallmarks of the genre are there. Jackie and Daniel are orbited by a constellation of kooky characters, the quirky kind who would never exist in the real world, but you better be damn sure populate the rom-com one. Co-star Betty Gilpin does her usual comedy bandit thing, stealing every scene. She is a proud graduate of the Kathryn Hahn and Judy Greer Institute of Rom-Com Best Friends.

And, of course, there’s dramatic tension. Wouldn’t you know it, but Jackie’s company has a strict policy against office romances. Gee, I hope no one finds out!

Everything comes to a head with a big romantic gesture and all of that. You know it’s coming. You’re glad it does. Credit to Goldstein, this is the first declaration-of-love monologue I’ve seen that’s coupled with a rant about the Holland Tunnel. Beautiful.

I’ve brought this up in the past, but it bears repeating: Goldstein wrote this script with Lopez in mind, convinced her to star in it, and then cast himself as the man who falls in love and gets to have lots of hot sex scenes with her. Some might call that bold. I call it inspiring.

Jonathan Bailey, your rom-com written by and starring Kevin Fallon is coming your way very soon.

Tina Fey Is Good at Making TV

The Four Seasons is a unique kind of comedy. What its characters go through in each episode is so chaotic, yet I find watching it to be comforting. Season 2 is now streaming on Netflix, continuing its chronicle of a group of middle-aged friends who reunite for a vacation four times a year. (Would you believe, once every season?)

I find this to be beautiful and aspirational because, one, imagine going on four vacations a year. Moreover, imagine even just getting to see your oldest friends four times a year. I barely see my next-door neighbor that often.

(Warning: Small spoiler from Season 1 follows.)

These are rich couples, of course, what with their four vacations. One is played by Tina Fey and Will Forte, another by Colman Domingo and Marco Calvani, and the third… well. The third was played by Kerri Kinney-Silver and Steve Carell, before he had an affair and impregnated a younger woman played by Erika Henningsen. But then he died (!), and now the mistress joins the trips.

Like I said, chaos.

But what I find comforting is the idea that, maybe in a decade or so, I will be able to afford the travel they do. But I also like that the midlife crises they are having are kinda the exact ones I suspect my friends and I will soon be weathering, and it’s nice to see these characters, played by these hilarious people, encounter them with humor, exasperation, and, in the end, grace.

While Fey and Domingo got much of the critical praise in Season 1, I was obsessed with both Kinney-Silver and Calvani’s performances this go-around. She’s a fritzing sparkplug, and he’s…a spritzing sparkplug with an Italian accent. They were so much fun to watch, and with any justice, they’ll be a part of the awards conversations that are happening right now in the lead-up to the Emmys.

Kate Hudson Is Good at Being Wildly Charming

I apparently chose this week to be my Netflix comfort-watch kick. Not sure what that says about what’s going on in my life, but I’m just gonna compartmentalize that and not parse it.

In Running Point, Kate Hudson takes charge of her family’s Los Angeles Lakers-esque professional basketball team after her father dies and her brother goes to rehab. It is a perfect example of a vital genre of television series. One whose value cannot be undersold. It is a comedy that is just fine, and just-fine comedies serve a special purpose in my life: They are the ones I put on each night while I go to bed.

I adore my bedtime just-fine shows. They usher me into the next day on a cloud of pleasantness. Sometimes, I’ll be drifting off, Kate Hudson will make a kooky face on my TV, and I’ll giggle; one last burst of serotonin to end the day with.

And don’t be confused. Running Point is an exemplar version of this type of show. Hudson seemingly bottled all of that mid-2000s rom-com charisma, shook it up, and let it fizz all over this show. She is so good. So watchable. So—dare I be a broken record?—comforting.

It’s a series of endless hijinks. Hijinks are fun! The supporting cast is hilarious, especially Brenda Song, Drew Tarver, and Ray Romano. So what do you say? Let’s all pop some melatonin together tonight and get just fine with Running Point.

The Best Joke of the Week

Apparently, Odysseus is the new Taylor Swift, as the mad rush to secure tickets to see Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey in IMAX crashed the AMC app multiple times, leading to hours-long waits when they were released this week.

That meant, obviously, that the screenings quickly sold out. But one clever X user has a plan:

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More From The Daily Beast’s Obsessed

I spoke to Antoni Porowski about life after Queer Eye…and all that crying. Read more.

How is any Emmy voter supposed to choose between Lisa Kudrow and Jean Smart this year? Watch here.

You better believe I unpacked all the juicy revelations from the latest Summer House reunion episode. Read more.

What to Watch This Week:

Masters of the Universe: Anyone who grew up on Saturday morning cartoons will be very happy. (Now in theaters)

Michael Jackson: The Verdict: All of the people who bought tickets should also be forced to watch this. (Now on Netflix)

The Tony Awards: Hands down the best award show of the year, every year. (Sun. on CBS/Paramount+)

What to Skip This Week:

Scary Movie: Waaaaazzuuuppp with this new reboot being so bad? (Now in theaters)