Set it Up
2.5/4
Starring: Zoey Deutch, Glen Howard, Lucy Liu, Taye Diggs
Not Rated (Probable PG-13 for Language including Sexual Dialogue)
"Set it Up" is a wildly uneven but at times charming romantic comedy. The chemistry between the two leads sparkles, but they're stuck in a story that feels more tired than it should. This is one of those movies that might have been better without a plot.
The plot, such as it is, is like "Cyrano de Bergerac" times two, although in this case, it doesn't mean twice the fun. Harper (Deutch) is an assistant to the tough-as-nails Kirsten (Liu), who is so demanding that Harper no longer has a life. Upstairs is Charlie (Howard), the assistant to Rick (Diggs), who is also unbelievably demanding. Both Harper and Charlie are desperate for some sanity in their lives, so they conspire to set Kirsten and Rick up. What they didn't count on was falling for each other.
Zoey Deutch and Glen Howard are ideally cast as the leads, satisfying the two requirements of such characters (as James Berardinelli once pointed out): we like them, and we like them more together. Zoey Deutch is a live wire; bubbly, vibrant and energetic. But she's also self-critical to a fault. Harper is absolutely adorable. Glen Howard has proven his ability to steal scenes with just his smile and a few token lines of dialogue. Here he proves that he can succeed as a lead. Apart from a goofy hairdo, he's an ideal hunk. The two are well-matched as characters and as actors. As their bosses, Lucy Liu and Taye Diggs don't make much of an impression. Probably because they don't have a lot of screen time. Liu gives it her all, but Diggs is just awful. He sleepwalks his way through his scenes, making me wonder what happened to the energy and zest he had in "Rent" and "How Stella Got Her Groove Back."
Unfortunately the film is not well directed. The film is shot in stale TV shots, with little sense of life or personality. This isn't surprising, considering that director Claire Scanlon comes from a background in single camera TV. The screenplay by Katie Silberman is also lacking. The humor rarely works, sometimes because the timing is off or more often it's just not funny. When it's just Harper and Charlie interacting, it's on surer ground. But there are more than a few sequences that fall painfully flat.
"Set it Up" is like that. Some good stuff buried under a lot of crap. There are some things to like about this movie. You have to look for them, but they're there.
Starring: Zoey Deutch, Glen Howard, Lucy Liu, Taye Diggs
Not Rated (Probable PG-13 for Language including Sexual Dialogue)
"Set it Up" is a wildly uneven but at times charming romantic comedy. The chemistry between the two leads sparkles, but they're stuck in a story that feels more tired than it should. This is one of those movies that might have been better without a plot.
The plot, such as it is, is like "Cyrano de Bergerac" times two, although in this case, it doesn't mean twice the fun. Harper (Deutch) is an assistant to the tough-as-nails Kirsten (Liu), who is so demanding that Harper no longer has a life. Upstairs is Charlie (Howard), the assistant to Rick (Diggs), who is also unbelievably demanding. Both Harper and Charlie are desperate for some sanity in their lives, so they conspire to set Kirsten and Rick up. What they didn't count on was falling for each other.
Zoey Deutch and Glen Howard are ideally cast as the leads, satisfying the two requirements of such characters (as James Berardinelli once pointed out): we like them, and we like them more together. Zoey Deutch is a live wire; bubbly, vibrant and energetic. But she's also self-critical to a fault. Harper is absolutely adorable. Glen Howard has proven his ability to steal scenes with just his smile and a few token lines of dialogue. Here he proves that he can succeed as a lead. Apart from a goofy hairdo, he's an ideal hunk. The two are well-matched as characters and as actors. As their bosses, Lucy Liu and Taye Diggs don't make much of an impression. Probably because they don't have a lot of screen time. Liu gives it her all, but Diggs is just awful. He sleepwalks his way through his scenes, making me wonder what happened to the energy and zest he had in "Rent" and "How Stella Got Her Groove Back."
Unfortunately the film is not well directed. The film is shot in stale TV shots, with little sense of life or personality. This isn't surprising, considering that director Claire Scanlon comes from a background in single camera TV. The screenplay by Katie Silberman is also lacking. The humor rarely works, sometimes because the timing is off or more often it's just not funny. When it's just Harper and Charlie interacting, it's on surer ground. But there are more than a few sequences that fall painfully flat.
"Set it Up" is like that. Some good stuff buried under a lot of crap. There are some things to like about this movie. You have to look for them, but they're there.
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