Materialists – Movie Reviews by Ry!

Materialists – Of Checkmarks and Hearts: You are my Match

When looking at another, what is it that you feel?  In tantalizing moments, we experience thoughts that push forward a sense of awe and wonder.  The path of emotions is one of many routes, but it can be a riveting crux for a story, especially in film.  In this review, I look at the latest romance film to hit the big screen.  With an original like tale, it builds through obvious details to become something more.  With strong characters and smartly dialogue, Materialists is a romance that goes beyond to build upon that question … what is it that you feel for another?

In a world of relationships and fate, an ambitious woman will find herself torn between her ideals and wonder, what is the right way to love.  Through any story, we become enthralled by what comes to be true to the form.  No matter how a tale is spun, the pull is a matter of connecting with the audience: what do you feel?  The tension and laughter are one of subjectivity, but the everlasting impact is in the totality of its core.  For romance films, no matter the what or why, the foundation of a person falling in love becomes a manner of spinning something new in the obvious clichés.  With this film, Celine Song (writer/director) provides a path where experiences, gestures and simple conversations prove to be the uplifting ingredients of a strong romantic tale.  We begin with our lead, Lucy (Dakota Johnson), who is a woman of strong tastes as she works as a match maker consultant in New York City.  As the film builds from her perspective, we learn about her ideas on love and personal connections.  The slow build helps characterize the moments, striking a tone through modernized perceptions and subtle hints of human frailty.  Through general conversations and the ‘slice of life’ motif, we watch as she helps others while dancing around the idea of ‘finding that one’ for herself, which is pulled to the forefront with the introduction of the love interests.  At a party, Lucy crosses paths with Harry (Pedro Pascal), a wealthy financial advisor and John (Chris Evans), her ex-boyfriend and struggling Broadway actor.  Once these two come into the picture, it provides the crux that pushes the ideas of ‘what is love’ into a degree of perception, experience and fragile delight.  It is through Lucy, Harry and John’s conversations that you feel a sense of levity, a raw reflection on the internal conflict in each individual.  With a smartly written script, you feel the dramatic tension through subtle touches of personality and realistic situations.  Celine Song, like her previous work (Past Lives), creates a story driven by the authentic behavior of its characters.  Through the trio, you experience hope and turmoil, one that rekindles the spirit that makes cinema wonderful, a sensational grip to the art of storytelling.

As Lucy pushes through aspects of wonder and truth, a situation occurs from her matchmaking job that creates a ‘cause and effect’ like dilemma with John and Harry.  The ideas of love become a fracture of her reality, but to what cost?  As things weave through dramatic and wholesome like realism, we get to see Lucy weave through the latter half of the film with an uncertain truth in her heart.  As things lead to that ‘film like’ crossroads, we head into a finale that bridges ideas with reality.  It is in the end that things become real, even if the cliché climax and epilogue is something we have seen before.  Materialists is a film that takes the familiar and provides a path that is true to the heart.  No matter if you’re a fan of romance films or not, this is a tale that is worth experiencing on the big screen. 

Full Score – 4.5 out of 5 (Award Worthy)