'The Perfect Date' May Not Be Perfect But It Sure Is Fun
Starring Noah Centineo, Laura Marano, Camila Mendes, Matt Walsh
Rated TV-14
Comedy, Romance
Run time: 1 hr, 29 min
Directed by Chris Nelson
On Netflix April 12, 2019
Noah Centineo is certainly making a name for himself among the teen romcoms business that Netflix is currently investing a decent amount of time and money in, and it seems like a solid choice. With the insane following the young actor has amassed across the internet, he’s a solid choice for any romantic lead. This is one of his first steps outside of the lovable goof/jock persona he has perfected over his last couple of films and it’s a pretty good showing.
In The Perfect Date, Centineo is Brooks, a high schooler determined to go to Yale, despite having some concerns about how he’s going to pay for it. He’s got the grades and school-based extracurriculars, but the money and important name, not so much. After agreeing to take a classmate’s cousin (Laura Marano) to her formal and being given a financial reward, it sparks an idea: an app for “stand-ins.” Brooks lets girls choose the personality and interests of the guy (him) they want to accompany them somewhere and he fits the bill to a tee, for a fee of course. As he does this to save up money for Yale, he meets his dream girl along the way, having to balance real life with his fake personas he is constantly putting on.
Out of the three films that Centineo has headed up for Netflix, this is definitely the one that stands out the most from the others. Rather than being the sweet, popular guy, Brooks is a semi-nerdy seeming guy who is so focused on grades and college that parties and socializing hadn’t really been on his agenda. No shade to the ever-so-dreamy persona he puts on in To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before, but it’s good to see that there’s a bit of range in the young adult love interests he seems to have cornered the market on. The surprise joy (at least for those not being familiar with her other work) is Laura Marano. Maybe it’s due to her working with Centineo previously, but the scenes between the two play out effortlessly, and her sassy remarks and sarcasm help create a girl that is more reminiscent of Kat Stratford in 10 Things I Hate About You than other romcom heroines.
One of the biggest strengths of this movie is the flipping the perspective a bit on the traditional romantic comedy. Very rarely do we get to watch a story with this tone play out from the male’s point of view, so it’s an interesting change of pace, and it may be what makes Brooks seem a bit more fully formed than some other lighthearted teen movie men. At only an hour and a half, it’s definitely worth the watch, and doesn’t quite follow the exact pattern you’d expect out of just another teen movie.