The Perfect Find (2023) ‘Netflix’ Movie Review

The Perfect Find (2023) ‘Netflix’ Movie Review: Jenna Jones (played by Gabrielle Union) had her life come crashing down in her forties. She fell out with her partner, Brian (DB Woodside), which made it to the headlines, and she got fired from her job. Unfortunately, staying at home with her parents is also not an option, so she finds her way into beauty and fashion journalism as a renewed effort to give her life a second chance. She joins as the Creative Director at Darzine, a magazine run by her frenemy, Darcy (played by Gina Torres). She also actively puts herself out into the dating scene, briefly getting lucky with a guy briefly at the first party she attends with her friends.

The following day, she realizes that the guy from the party is Eric (played by Keith Powers), Darcy’s son and the new videographer at Darzine. Although Jenna and Eric seem to have their differences initially, they are soon swept up in an electric chemistry at work and a loving relationship they must hide from Darcy at all costs. Does Darcy find out about the relationship between Jenna and Eric? Well, Perrier’s movie – adapted from Tia Williams’ book by the same name – doesn’t raise too many green flags about the protagonists in love but sure dodges a few red flag behaviors, hiding them carefully under the garb of the glitz of the fashion journalism industry and complex human characters.

Romcoms are meant to make you feel mushy because of the chemistry of the protagonists starring in them. Union and Powers live up to their responsibility of portraying characters swooning in love or, as Darcy puts it, in a ‘sex haze.’ Right from the first party where they meet, the two characters take their liberties with flirtatious statements and physical touch. However, their acting skills and chemistry are tested when the more difficult truths and serious conversations are to be had. This is precisely where they falter, not as actors but as hastily-written characters. Sadly, their character arcs are a big disappointment by the end.

I must mention here that the characters of Jenna and Eric display some red-flag behavior. For example, the only reason Jenna and Eric fall out in the movie and the course of their relationship is their individual associations with their exes. Jealousy isn’t the problem here; the problem is how the conversation they have after quickly tumbles into sex without any proper resolution, or if a resolution takes place, the audience only partially sees it on the screen.

Furthermore, the reason why Jenna and Eric reconnect after a few months seems like a convenient excuse to tie the narrative together. Everything after that feels rushed, marring the pace of the narrative. As an admirer of the rom-com genre, I would have loved it if the writers and the director focused on the most critical aspect of their relationship – the age difference between Jenna and Eric and their professional successes. But I can only speculate!

The light-hearted fun in The Perfect Find (2023) comes from the campaign Eric and Jenna are working on. Their focus on old Hollywood movies and Harlem and its fashion is such an interesting topic of fashion journalism that it keeps you hooked to the screen in the movie’s first half. It is also when their relationship outside work is blossoming, making us root for Jenna and Eric as they share glances, foot teasing, and sips from the same cup in secrecy at their workplace.

I would have preferred a little more insight into how this fashion project comes to life and the challenges they face instead of the sobby drama that it becomes by the end. Besides, that one point Jenna raises about ‘black nepotism’ when Darcy introduces her son into her workplace is never picked up again in the movie, losing the opportunity to start an engaging discussion in pop culture.

Jenna and Darcy’s closets appear to be straight off a runway, and you will not be able to stop appreciating the hair and make-up enough. However, with simple characters jet skiing into acting as disappointments in their decision-making, the movie deserves only a cold shrug. The Perfect Find (2023) is half-baked and tries to balance itself between good and problematic. You can pick it up only if you are looking for a leisure watch.