Movie Review: Maybe It's You
Reminding us why we fell in love with rom-coms in the first place, and how we can learn to love them again
Unbeknownst to the Netflix and Marvel loving masses, basic cable channel E! has recently embarked on a radical and unthinkable social experiment – bringing back the romantic comedy. While both the genre and the channel were thought to be long dead, a new offering, Maybe It's You, gives proof of life for both. A throwback to '80s rom-coms, the TV movie is charming, witty, warm, and made for real grown-ups, not just tweens who think prom is the only acceptable ending for a film about boys and girls.
Maybe it was losing the Kardashians, or maybe they finally exhausted the pool of viewers who would watch the same Sex & the City episode ten times. Whatever the reason, programming execs at E! decided to suddenly live up to their name and entertain. Producing original scripted content for TV is a bold choice these days. Most are content to repackage dating contests and yet another reality TV show about some C-lister's untalented offspring. E! went in the opposite direction, at least with this film, and not only produced a full-length film that's not a remake, but did it well. What a concept!
What is so endearing about Maybe It's You, and surprising, is that it manages to hit all the familiar notes of the genre while also introducing new elements that make it feel current. That tightwire act is necessary to revive the rom-com after its untimely demise. The turn of the century saw it reduced to a formulaic summer jobs program for TV actresses on hiatus. First, Jennifer Aniston beat it to a pulp. Then, Katherine Heigl delivered the death blow. Kate Hudson gets a dishonorable mention as well. Paint-by-numbers screenwriting and no-dimensional characters left fans feeling insulted rather than uplifted.
In contrast, Maybe It's You seems to have an actual writer. Sono Patel chooses to create a recognizably human guy-girl combo. There's even a plot, not just a voice-over track for a two-minute trailer. Main characters Lexa and Peter are two best friends from college who hesitantly decide to date after their most recent break-ups. Played by Veronica St. Clair and Brett Dier respectively, both are far departures from the cardboard cutouts that used to pass for rom-com leads.
Lexa is not a ballsy career girl who sneers at the unrefined beer-swillers that pass for men these days. She's funny and flawed, and genuinely cares about her friend's happiness. Peter is not an obnoxious toothpick-chewing mansplainer, the kind who thinks he can fix Lexa if she'll only listen to him. Rather, he's silly and sincere, and doesn't need a natural disaster to realize he can be happy loving one girl. How quaint.
Further breaking the mold, Lexa and Peter don't initially hate each other only to be forced together by unlikely circumstances. Nevertheless, paying homage to the basic rom-com conceit, they are not an obvious match. Their romantic progression is awkward and halting at first, creating just the right amount of tension. The script knows when to pull back, and when to sprint forward. It feels authentic, replicating the uncertainty mixed with excitement that marks new relationships.
It is this kind of nuance that sets Maybe It's You apart. It avoids the banalities of late-stage rom-coms, but also resists the urge to go to the opposite extreme, which has become all too popular a reaction. As rom-coms devolved into formulaic failures, they gave rise to a sort of anti-rom-com, the rom-bombs. This derivative strain makes sure to bludgeon its fans with its disdain for the “rom”, while not delivering much on the “com” either. The plots still revolve around a girl falling for a boy she doesn't want to want, but the big twist is an all too predictable feminist punchline. The girl figures out she “don't need no man”, and chooses herself. Or they just insert a bunch of zombies.
These bastardizations endlessly flatter themselves on being above the triteness of love, but still bank on women's yearning for romance to fill seats. Full of wink-winks and nudge-nudges, they make sure to remind their viewers non-stop that they are self-aware send-ups of rom-coms. You see, they're unpleasant on purpose. Self-congratulatory and resentful, these films shout their disgust for romance, but are also obsessed with it. It's not exactly a fun time at the movies.
Avoiding both this extreme and its opposite generic option takes a lot of skill. It is not an easy needle to thread. Still, Maybe It's You manages to have its cake and eat it too. Its subtlety comes in large part thanks to it main actors, St. Clair and Dier. Both accomplish their assigned mission: making their characters likable. It is the core prerequisite for a rom-com, yet often neglected. Why root for two people to end up together if you don't like them? Why care if they end up alone? The two establish an effortless rapport between Lexa and Peter, almost making it seem as if they ad-libbed many of their jokey exchanges (maybe they did).
The movie doesn't speed by these scenes as an afterthought. So many rom-coms do. It's one of the best parts of the film. It is a biological fact that human beings, especially the women who are drawn to these types of films, enjoy watching two good-looking people fall for each other. The banter is clever, but not pretentious, silly, but not dumb. The inside jokes and constant ribbing make the pair feel like real friends with a real chance at love. Maybe It's You deftly acknowledges that grown-ups like words, not just images. Taking the time to craft extended conversations in place of cheap montages means the viewer is that much more invested in the outcome.
Once the mutual attraction is established, Maybe It's You faces the next rom-com landmine – becoming a Hallmark movie. The sugary basic cable confection is given its due citation in the film, almost as a warning. From a channel literally named after greeting cards, these ubiquitous cheese-fests have become both a cultural phenomenon and self-parody. Their unexpected success speaks to women's desire for traditional romance, even if they hide it behind self-proclaimed ironic viewing.
Once again, Maybe It's You understands its audience's unspoken hunger for, yes, conventional happiness, but also its modern contempt for easy answers. Without ruining the ending, suffice it to say the film navigates that contradiction creatively with an unexpected turn, not a pumpkin spice bake-off in sight.
The film does adopt two Hallmark staples, and this is worth noting. The first is the complete absence of politics or any social commentary. It's almost shocking to watch a film in 2023 devoid of any agenda or messaging, and it is a welcome relief, a true novelty in this day and age. Secondly, there are no graphic sex scenes, or even muted ones. No one wants to see a bunch of actors humping. It would have added nothing to the film other than to make you feel sorry for the sound guy. A little make-out and a fade work just fine, thank you very much.
Despite such relative innovations, in the end, it is the commonplace that renders Maybe It's You such a success. In fact, what makes it so inherently lovely is that it plays all the greatest hits of a rom-com. It never pretends to be above the genre. Lexa is a little bit broken and suspicious of commitment. Peter waffles at key moments. An ex reappears at exactly the wrong time. Their friends push them together. There's even a precocious kid spouting life truths. That's all fine. Rom-coms are not supposed to be high art, but they still should be good.
Maybe It's You is good, really good. It does what it's supposed to do in a sweet and clever way. Nothing more, nothing less. It turns out rom-coms don't need to reinvent the wheel. They just need to not run that wheel into the ground.