Facing litigation, impassioned airline CEO Jackie (Jennifer Lopez) is thrown together with her company’s lawyer Daniel (Brett Goldstein). As sparks begin to fly, their company’s internal anti-dating policy, plus Jackie’s reputation, is tested.
It’s been a fair few years since Jennifer Lopez: total goofball has made an appearance on our screens. Make no mistake, the usual tools in her arsenal are all deployed in this zesty work-based romp co-written by her co-star Brett Goldstein. Lopez still commands a room, her finessed swagger compounded by an extensive range of towering Louboutin heels. She still brings a street-smart edge to her high-flying, high-earning exec. Yet thanks to an R-rated, zinger-fuelled script from Goldstein and his Ted Lasso co-creator Joe Kelly, she gets to embrace a rare silliness, as her character’s crush on her moralistic British colleague deepens.
The stars align after Daniel’s assigned to represent Jackie in a case against a slippery competitor. Both have thus far maintained a reserved, professional energy at work; Daniel, who chafes against chatty American workplace culture, even puts on a clipped British accent (a pointed departure from the sweary growls of his Lasso character Roy Kent). To the chagrin of Jackie’s second-in-command and confidant Sydney — played by a scene-stealing, gut-busting Betty Gilpin who should be booked as a comedy lead immediately — the pair inevitably fall into a lustful, forbidden affair. Cue elevator encounters, tropical fumblings and a very particular kink-revelation that makes for one of the funniest scenes.
Office Romance delivers on big, outlandish gags.
The film is at its strongest within these pockets of weirdness. A monologue delivered by Goldstein fires off C-bombs like artful ammunition, while a punchline about misdirected fluids from Lopez lands a big laugh. The “rom” doesn’t quite keep up with the “com”, however. The dynamic between the couple is intentional: Goldstein, a relative newcomer to the genre, wrote Jackie with Lopez, a seasoned romantic lead, in mind. The glowing, cocksure Yank running circles around the bumbling Brit is of course a timeless trope, but at times fact and fiction blur, with Lopez’s breezy charms seeming to throw her co-star off-balance. The story occasionally suffers from formulaic limits too, with certain third-act developments feeling hasty and frictionless. These quibbles will not be what linger after the credits roll, however. Office Romance delivers on big, outlandish gags courtesy of a gang of sweet, odd pros. All hail Goofball Lopez.
An undeniably funny copulating caper that makes good on the laughs, if a little less on the lust.
