Materialists on Canal+: should you watch the rom com with Dakota Johnson and Pedro Pascal? (critical)
Dakota Johnson plays Cupid in a materialistic New York where love is a commodity like any other. Falsely sophisticated and really hollow.
Released last summer in cinemas, Materialists arrives this Tuesday evening on Canal Plus (and streaming on MyCanal). This romantic comedy by Dakota Johnson, Pedro Pascal and Chris Evans had a small success in theaters but had not really convinced the Première editorial staff. Our review:
The reception of Past Lives, the first feature film by Celine Songwas something of a fairy tale: rave critical reception, Oscar nominations, instant “generational” resonance… Among the qualities of the film, there was this way of talking about the couple in a new, partly disenchanted way, which took into account the cultural and socio-economic factors that govern any love story, however romantic one might want to convince themselves that it is.
This very prosaic approach is at the heart of Materialistswhich takes a more archetypal rom-com pattern. Either Lucy (Dakota Johnson), a New York “matchmaker” who organizes romantic encounters for very wealthy clients, and whose heart will soon find itself swinging between an extremely wealthy BG (Pedro Pascal) and his former ex (Chris Evans), galley actor whom she had left a few years earlier because she was tired of him never being able to invite her to luxury restaurants.
The initially somewhat cold, detached tone of the film, which gives the impression of adhering to the values of this cynical and ultra-materialist world, is initially destabilizing, before being diluted over the course of dull scenes, without rhythm or humor, using wrung out gimmicks (the matchmaker’s meetings with her clients parading in front of the camera). We end up understanding that Celine Song is in reality content to apply a falsely sophisticated veneer over banal considerations and good old romantic comedy tricks, for a pretentious and conformist result.
By Celine Song With Dakota Johnson, Pedro Pascal, Chris Evans… Duration 1h49.
