“The Perfect Find” simply is perhaps one of the vital good rom-coms of this 12 months. Gabrielle Union (who additionally produces the function) leads the Netflix film, which shines due to a sensible script by Leigh Davenport (“Run the World”) tailored from Tia Williams’ novel of the identical identify. “The Excellent Discover” channels the classic 2000s plotline of the fashion magazine as world’s most glamorous workplace, whereas additionally trying an homage to Black cinema’s wealthy historical past.
In the Numa Perrier-directed feature, Union performs well-known fashionista Jenna Jones, who returns to New York Metropolis one 12 months after her high-profile cut up from her mogul boyfriend of 10 years. Jenna lands a job because the inventive director of her former nemesis Darcy’s (Gina Torres) trend subscription service. Regardless of the vagueness over what the corporate really does, Jenna rapidly excels in her position, thanks partly to her chemistry with videographer Eric (Keith Powers), who she briefly encountered at a swanky lodge previous to realizing he was a coworker….and Darcy’s son.
“The Excellent Discover” has dashes of the Uma Thuman-Meryl Streep two-hander “Prime” in addition to “13 Happening 30,” with the reminder that Jenna is newly 40 and, not less than based on her ex, goes by means of a midlife disaster of self-discovery on her personal. Good factor Eric is there as a Gen Z guiding gentle, not just for Jenna to search out her enterprise footing once more but in addition remind her there things like good, delicate males on the earth.
Powers and Union’s chemistry and quippy dialogue backwards and forwards grounds this candy rom-com, reminding viewers what’s so enjoyable in regards to the early 2000s peak of the genre. “I slipped making out with a fetus!,” Jenna cries after kissing then-stranger Eric on the lodge’s bar, whereas her buddies (performed by Aisha Hinds and Alani “La La” Anthony) remind Jenna that they’re her “voices for the vagina” to regain her mojo.
Upon realizing that Eric is, in reality, Darcy’s son and her new colleague, Jenna sarcastically jokes that there’s “nothing incorrect with Black nepotism” regardless of Eric’s clear path to working at his mom’s media firm. “We do our jobs, not one another!” Jenna post-coitally teases Eric. The film additionally packs in a slight enemies-to-lovers trope, as Eric and Jenna at first despise one another within the office attributable to their generational variations but in addition as a result of they each are cussed, headstrong, and wildly attracted to one another in a tense workplace setting.
“The Excellent Discover” additional finds its muse in Jenna’s shelved aspiration to be a movie historian, a ardour that she incorporates into the most recent marketing campaign for the style conglomerate. The movie itself is a celebration of Black trend and cinema as a complete, with loving references to every little thing from the clichés of Tyler Perry motion pictures to an ode to the legacy of actress Nina Mae, who was deemed the “Black Greta Garbo.”
Regardless of its many charms, the movie fumbles a bit in its ending, leaning into one more form of cliché however finally discovering grace in righting wrongs of the previous for each characters. Director Perrier (“Jezebel,” “Unprisoned”) has helmed a standout rom-com, bolstered by Union’s imaginative and prescient as a producer and lead star. The right discover for these searching for a sensible, attractive rom-com respite? Fairly shut.
Grade: B+
“The Excellent Discover” begins streaming on Netflix on Friday, June 23.
