Good on Paper

5/10 - definitely not the rom-com I was expecting when I hit play on Netflix, but despite everyone involved's best efforts, this one just does not stand out as anything remarkable and most of the jokes seemed to fall flat (at least for me)

So this was advertised as a romantic comedy, but it's not really that.

It's about fake personality, something that's a real pain in the ass nowadays, where almost everyone is damaged and has low self-esteem because psychopaths and cunning narcissists get it all, and rub it in.

It starts off quite romantically, and gradually the doubts kick in

• is this guy really what he pretends to be?

Then the movie takes a darker turn, and it doesn't recover.

You get the bitter truth.

The dialogues are quick-witted, acting is good enough to carry the story, there are a lot of small jokes and funny moment that are worthwhile.

Don't expect a "happy" ending.

This is basically a movie version of "Dirty John" as a comedy.

If you like Iliza Shlesinger (I do), go watch it, it's certainly not bad.

Expectations can severely alter your perception. Over hyping something can easily put it on a pedestal which will inevitably result in disappointment. But the opposite can be true as well. At first glance, Good on Paper looks like such painful, straight to Netflix rom-com trash that I had been dreading throwing it on. But I'm a fan of Iliza Shlesinger's stand-up work, and was curious to see her film debut. I kept waiting all movie for it to take a sharp turn towards shmaltzy sentimentality, but as it became clear that it wasn't going down that road, it had me rooting in it's corner! By the same token, if I was expecting knee slapping hilarity, it may have been a bit of a let down, as it doesn't really succeed at bringing the frantic energy of Iliza's live shows to the big screen. What you get is a rather amusing story which basically did happen to the comedian in real life, and a light easy watch that doesn't get bogged down by tired genre clichés.

I can understand the confusing reviews probably come from a mindset of expectation from the movie, considering Iliza was in it.

Although many including myself may have looked forward to a goofy, lighthearted laugh, I have to say the story had an abstract depth to it from a psychological point of view. In some ways it touched on some serious issues some of us deal with in relationships, not realizing the overtness in agendas of partners in them. In some ways also, the elephant in the room was addressed. Full marks for that.

That said, I'm not sure if the director even realized the power of the script. I felt as a movie, this was all over the place because it touched on so many different societal issues.

Maybe the focus could have been on narcissism and how to deal with the trauma it brings to those who don't realize it. Maybe this could have just been one of Iliza's (love her to bits) stand up episodes, I don't know.

Watch it if you're able to switch your expectations. It's a good one with a very important message. Don't watch it if you're expecting tears from guffaws.

This is a strange one. I liked it though.

Iliza Schlesinger taking the Larry David approach to placing herself inside the fictional character, and it works. Like one of her stand-up routines massaged into a full story, Iliza pulls it off without seeming to break a sweat.

I'd like to see her stretch herself in future projects, but this one worked for me as a nice surprise by one of the hottest comics, fully capable of making the jump to acting. Looking forward to more!