Set It Up stars Zoey Deutch and Glen Powell as Harper and Charlie, two overworked assistants, struggling to balance their personal lives with their career goals. Both of their bosses keep them busy nearly every waking minute, leaving very little time for them to actually live life. After meeting during a chance encounter, they decide to set their bosses up. If their bosses are busy with a relationship, they won’t be busy slamming their assistants with work. It’s the perfect set-up for a classic rom-com.
Zoey Deutch and Glen Powell, need I say more?
Okay, so, yes I suppose I do need to say more. But any movie starring Zoey Deutch and Glen Powell is off to a great start. Back together again after both appearing in 2016’s Everybody Wants Some!! (a FANTASTIC movie; will definitely make its way into the weekly streaming review if/when it comes to a streaming platform), the two light up the screen in exactly the way you need romantic comedy leads to do.
These are two of the most energetic and fun actors working today. Their charisma jumps off the screen in every scene. The two also have outstanding chemistry, playing off each other like old friends.
This is often the key component to any successful romantic comedy. If you’re not invested in the central relationship, what’s even the point? But both Deutch and Powell reel you in effortlessly. You’re on their side from minute one and that feeling never lets up.
Gets the little things right
Aside from the two (almost unbelievably) charming leads, Set It Up does a nice job of getting some of the smaller details right. It’s this attention to the perceived “little things” that helps elevate the movie from being just another by the book romantic comedy.
While Harper and Charlie’s bosses (Lucy Liu and Taye Diggs, respectively) are set to the extreme, their actions still feel within the realm of possibility. Liu as the hardcore woman trying to prove herself in the male-dominated sports world. Diggs as the stereotypical douchey “finance bro.” So by extension, what they request and require from their assistants also feels believable. They’re not put into silly, over the top situations. Instead, the overworked assistants are given stressful, time-constrained tasks that feel like things actual assistants to high-powered employers would be asked to do.
I know asking a movie to feel grounded in reality may not seem like a tall task. But romantic comedies have a propensity for taking things a little too far at times. So seeing director Claire Scanlon and screenwriter Katie Silberman know exactly when to reel the story in is a refreshing change of pace.
Don’t get it wrong, however. Set It Up still follows nearly all of the familiar tropes of the genre. But that’s part of the deal with the genre. You know what you’re getting, and you can only hope that any new one manages to put a unique spin on it. And Set It Up adds enough of its own flair to make it memorable while still staying true to its rom-com roots.
A worthy stream at any time
Set It Up makes for a perfectly fine stream at any time for any number of reasons. Speaking personally, I will watch absolutely anything with Zoey Deutch or Glen Powell. So having a movie with both of them? Couldn’t be more in for that. If you aren’t familiar with these two actors yet, Set It Up offers a great introduction (and then go rent Everybody Wants Some!!).
Whatever reason you land on, watching Set It Up offers a perfectly enjoyable quick escape. With the lack of new movies coming out, you’ll need to find movies you haven’t seen before, or ones you should revisit. On either account, Set It Up more than measures up.