The Other Zoey

Oh my gosh, Zach was absolutely ADORABLE. He's seriously one of the most endearing love interests I've seen in a romcom! However, I do wish we could have had more actual interactions between him and Zoey, cus right now their feelings felt a little bit random and pretty underdeveloped... Which is a shame cus I think their dynamic had a lot of potential, especially since I love the opposites attract trope.

P. S. The plot made zero sense. I mean, did she really just fall in love with some guy for saying he DOESN'T believe in love? And did she really think that the best way to start a relationship with him was by pretending to be his cousin's girlfriend?? Make it make sense, please.

This is just another film that brings absolutely nothing new in terms of ideas. It features the usual cliché of a naive young girl who lies for far too long, embarasses herself, loses her friend for a short period of time and runs back to mommy. Eventually, she decides is time put on her big girl pants and face the world, which she does. And, lo and behold, like winning the lottery with a scratched-up ticket, she stumbles into the happy ending she most definitely doesn't deserve!

On a positive note, I do like seeing new/fresh/young actors with potential on screen, so at least it has that going for it.

This movie is likely the future of film if we move to scripts being generated by AI. It feels like they threw every rom-com and college movie trope into a generator and this came out the other end.

Full of implausibilities and plot holes, the story plods along and it's hard to get invested in it because every action is ridiculous. You almost start a game of guessing which stereotypical story they will dive into next.

The concerning thing is if the main roles were reversed, Zoey lost her memory and Zach lied about who he was, it would actually be a dark story about predatory behaviour. But because the girl lies, it's a bouncy rom-com.

That being said, for all the things that make it a paint-by-numbers film, it is extremely watchable. It has a Hallmark-movie-for-Taylor-Swift-fans vibe to it and it is visually enjoyable. The cast is truly great, the material they have to delivery isn't meaty, but they do so in a realistic way and each person brings their character to life well.

I'm very confused how Andie McDowell and Heather Graham got caught up in all of this.

So, stick the movie on on a Sunday afternoon - it's fun, it's well produced, but don't expect a storyline or script that will blow you away. You guess the entire arc of the film in the first 10 minutes. But it is watchable and even, for some, enjoyable.

I am a total romantic comedy sucker, whilst at the same time, completely hating the relentless steretypes and tropes, and being sickened by the internalised misogynistic/ paternalistic biases usually on display. I am always on the lookout for a truly NEW romantic comedy. This movie isn't quite that, but I think it's trying to take a step in that direction.

The romantic set-up uses a ridiculous range of tropes; my MOST hated here being; a smart person making a series of stupid decisions. And kudos to the 'amnesia' trope. The choice of amnesia in particular was a clue that the writer was deliberately using obvious tropes in an attempt to subvert them. It does a good job of showing rather than explaining this, so at least it assumes the audience is smart.

Whilst it's generally inoffensive, it is never quite moving, either as comedy or drama. Still. It is trying to say something...maybe the very simple "Don't close yourself off from love". And the cast is diverse, very natural in their characterisations, and of course, very beautiful.

Though it's nothing challenging, it is enjoyable, and I think, can claim to be uncommon in its lack of implicit misogyny. Feel reassured it is watchable. Purely for entertainment.

A weak script and a bum's rush ending, it deserved to have an ending that went beyond Jam Fest. I liked the leads Langford and Starkey, but there was too much time spent on roommate Elle and her love interest Diego and too little time on Zoey's love interest Zach. Amnesia is a formulaic plot and love apps are so overused in rom-coms.

Andie MacDowell is a acting veteran, good in anything she's in. The rest of the cast was ok. Due to the strike we haven't heard from the leads or the writer and the director. Why didn't they interview cast and crew right after the shooting, so they had something for previews and to generate interest in the movie? If Netflix was looking for filler content, this was filler.