Someone Great | Review
Netflix pumps out so many films it’s easy for them to get lost in the sea of “content” in the streaming era, and their films are hit or miss (they’re often misses). For every Irishman there’s ten 6 Undergrounds. But what the streamer tends to succeed in is in the rom-com genre. (They’re usually fun and light, though expendable). But there’s one film in particular that I believe is not only the best rom-com on Netflix, but the best Netflix film, period. No, it’s not one from Oscar-winning directors Martin Scorsese or Alfonso Cuarón. It’s Someone Great, one of my favorite films of 2019, and the directorial debut of Jennifer Kaytin Robinson (Sweet/Vicious), someone who isn’t a household name—yet.
Someone Great stars Gina Rodriguez (Jane the Virgin) as Jenny, who is reeling from the aftermath of a recent breakup with her boyfriend of nine years Nate (LaKeith Stanfield). Having just landed a new job in San Francisco, Jenny plans one last hurrah in New York City with her two best friends, Blair and Erin (played by Brittany Snow and DeWanda Wise, respectively), before she moves in a week. The film follows the standard “one last night of debauchery” format we’ve seen before in many other films, but what makes Someone Great stand apart is its killer soundtrack, endlessly quotable lines and memorable scenes, and charm and sincerity.
Jenny (Gina Rodriguez) and Nate (LaKeith Stanfield)
Within the first five minutes of Someone Great you’ll know the film has a stellar soundtrack. (I audibly gasped when “Supercut” by Lorde played during the montage of Jenny and Nate’s relationship). The eclectic soundtrack includes the likes of Vampire Weekend, Robyn, Big Freedia, Jessie Reyez, The Aces, Ryn Weaver, Frank Ocean, and Phoebe Bridgers, and many of the songs effectively set the mood of key scenes, rather than just existing for us viewers to recognize. Sometimes the music is used for fun and comedic effect, like when the characters sing along to Selena’s “Dreaming Of You” in a bodega or jam to Lizzo’s “Truth Hurts” in their apartment. (Fun fact: the 2019 film helped “Truth Hurts” gain mainstream popularity two years after the song’s original release, thanks to this fun scene). Most of the time the songs are used for melodramatic effect (and it is effective), like the aforementioned Lorde song or Mitski’s “Your Best American Girl” when Jenny reflects on her failed relationship. (You can, and should, read more about Robinson’s effort in getting all these songs approved for the film in this Rolling Stone interview, including the one song that got away).
Gina Rodriguez stars as Jenny in ‘Someone Great’
Like any great film, quotable lines that stick with you long after the film’s ended is usually a sign it’s something special. Those who don’t have a tolerance for cliched life lessons may disagree, but I loved many of the film’s dialogue. “You’ve been blessed with a broken heart” is one. (It makes more sense in the context of the film). Jenny’s big monologue at the end of the film is filled with memorable emotional lines. (I mean, she is a writer). The film is also funny. Not laugh-a-minute funny, but, just, oh this is fun funny. I don’t know if that makes sense. But surprise appearances from comedians like Michelle Buteau (The Circle) and twitter menace Jaboukie Young-White (Only Murders in the Building) help to make the film not entirely sad.
The success of a film like this relies on not just a great cast, but a great cast with chemistry, and the trio leading the film have this in spades. Jenny, Blair, and Erin are all different: Jenny is the wildcard and talented writer falling apart from a messy breakup, Blair is the uptight social media manager stuck in a monotonous relationship with her boyfriend, and Erin is the chill real estate agent with commitment issues. (She’s afraid to tell her girlfriend “I love you.”) But despite these differences, the characters feel like real friends due to Rodriguez, Snow, and Wise’s genuine chemistry and Robinson’s writing. And none of the characters are perfect, they’re flawed and help each other be better people. Robinson also allows the women to get drunk, do drugs, and be raunchy, which is unfortunately still considered risky. (Someone asked Robinson during a screening of the film why she had women drink and do drugs so much).
Erin (DeWanda Wise), Jenny (Gina Rodriguez), and Blair (Brittany Snow)
Robinson also avoids making the friendship between the women feel superficial. Jenny, Blair, and Erin support, rib, and bicker with one another. Like many films, Someone Great includes a big fight between the friends late in the second act (particularly between Jenny and Erin). But this fight doesn’t come from jealousy or convenient misunderstandings, it’s out of love. “If the friends are going to be mad at each other, I wanted it to be from a place of ‘I care about you so much, please don’t do this’,” Robinson said in her interview with Refinery29. This is an atypical rom-com in that it’s both a breakup film (rather than a get together film) and a friendship film. Depictions of platonic love have been a major draw for me during my young adult life, and these kinds of stories are among my favorite kinds. (Examples include the friendships between Troy and Abed and Leslie and Ann from the NBC comedies Community and Parks and Recreation, respectively; Jeevan and Kristen in the HBO Max limited series Station Eleven; and Sam and Sadie from Gabrielle Zevin’s novel Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow). There’s just something so touching about strangers who choose to be in each other’s lives outside of familial or romantic constraints and obligations. That this is a friendship film as much as it is a breakup one, depicting a strong and healthy platonic friendship between women, and this makes it special.
Jenny (Gina Rodriguez)
Feelings are what Someone Great excels the most at. I’m a sucker when filmmakers make deeply personal films, and it’s very clear that this film was a cathartic experience for Robinson, who wrote the film inspired by her own breakup. Robinson combines heartbreak music, dreamy shots, and purple and blue hues to evoke a feeling of nostalgia when Jenny looks back on her relationship with Nate, from honeymoon phase to the fights to the inevitable breakup. It’s so relatable when people, places, and things trigger flashbacks for Jenny, even something as trivial as a Diet Coke. At one point, Jenny longs for one more memory with Nate, one more kiss, one more moment with just the two of them. It’s a devastating admission. But who can’t relate to this?
The best thing about Someone Great is that, and I hope this isn’t a spoiler, it doesn’t end on a happily ever after. This is a breakup film, and Robinson gives us an honest depiction of the end of a relationship rather than an easy resolution. Neither Jenny nor Nate are depicted as the bad guy in the relationship, they both have faults, and the sad truth is that a relationship can run its course without someone doing anything to ruin it. It’s a film about self-love and the journey getting there. I love this film because it empowers us to choose ourselves after heartbreak because it believes we’re that someone great we’ve been looking for.
3.5 out of 4 Kents.
PS: Robinson wrote Someone Great partly inspired by Taylor Swift’s song “Clean” from her album 1989. And, funnily enough, Swift’s song “Death By A Thousand Cuts” from her Lover album, was inspired by Someone Great !(And, no, this Swift connection is not the reason why my besties and I love the film—we found this fun fact after watching the film).
PPS: Robinson once said her goal was to run her own media empire. She seems to be well on her way on that path. Within the last two months alone she’s already released two new films: Marvel Studios’s Thor: Love and Thunder (which she co-wrote with director Taika Waitit) and Netflix’s Do Revenge (which she directed and co-wrote with Celeste Ballard, and is also currently the internet’s favorite film).
