Fix: rom-coms, sex addicts, friends to lovers, Jason Sudeikis
Platforms: Amazon Prime
Netflix Summary:
A good natured womanizer and a serial cheater form a platonic relationship that helps reform them in ways, while a mutual attraction sets in.
FYA Summary:
After a chance encounter in college, Laney and Jake lose their virginity to each other. Flash forward to the present day and Laney’s relationship is ending because she hasn’t been able get over (or out from under, ha ha ha) her college love Matthew Sobvechik. And now that Matthew is getting married to someone else, Laney decides she has to finally move on.
Meanwhile, Jake has turned into a serial womanizer. He’ll sleep with anyone, anywhere, at any time, and he has no plans of slowing down or changing his ways.
When Laney and Jake reconnect at a sex addicts anonymous meeting, they strike a deal to support one another as platonic friends – no sleeping together. But as their friendship deepens and they grow more dependent on one another, the line between friends and something more gets REALLY blurry.
Familiar Faces:
Alison Brie as Laney
Brie is great at playing uptight characters, and while I wouldn’t necessarily classify Laney as uptight, she is a bit…obsessive. Her obsession with her college crush Matthew was almost manic, and Brie plays it so intensely that it had me wondering if there was some sort of trauma involved that the movie didn’t really touch on. More importantly though, she and Sudeikis have insane on-screen chemistry.
Jason Sudeikis as Jake
The reason I discovered this movie exists is because I am firmly on Daddy Deikis Tiktok, a corner of the internet where we are all in agreement that Olivia f*cked up, no matter how much we love Harry Styles. Jason lays on the charm as Jake, a huge flirt who will not stop until he gets what he wants. But with Laney, Jake lets his vulnerable side show, and trust me when I say, even the mid-level Sudeikis fan will melt for him.
Adam Scott as Matthew Sobvechik
I am a BIG FAN of Adam Scott but oh my GOD was Matthew Sobvechik the worst. Almost too bad? I couldn’t understand Laney’s obsession at all. Personality: bad. Outfits: bad. Hair and mustache: even worse. It wasn’t even really bad in a funny way. Matthew Sobvechik just sucked on every possible level.
Amanda Peet as Paula
Peet plays Jake’s boss Paula who he is trying desperately to hook up with. What I liked about Paula is that it would’ve been easy to go the ball-busting-girlboss route but Peet gave her a chill and slightly vulnerable side that I really liked. There were a few moments when I found Paula REALLY surprising (in a good way).
Jason Mantzoukas and Andrea Savage as Xander and Naomi
A perfect comedy duo to play Jake’s business partner/best friend and his wife who have small children but still wish they could do molly.
Adam Brody as Sam
Adam’s part is more cameo than character – he plays Laney’s boyfriend that she breaks up with early in the movie. Which means that in this movie, Alison Brie’s three love interests are played by Adam Brody, Adam Scott, and Jason Sudeikis. I’m in the wrong profession.
Natasha Lyonne as Kara
Also more cameo than character, Natasha appears in, I believe, a single scene as Laney’s straight-talking BFF, seen here, doing some straight-talking.
Couch-Sharing Capability: High
This is like a rom-com in disguise. For one thing, it’s produced by Will Ferrell and Adam McKay so you know it’s gonna be funny and a little raunchy. But I swear there were a few times while watching that I seriously feared this movie was not going to deliver on a HEA. It’s the kind of rom-com you could easily trick your date into watching with you.
Recommended Level of Inebriation: Beer Optional
No booze needed here, but I wouldn’t pass up a cold brewsky while watching. This movie has the unfussy vibes of people who just wanna crack open a cold one and chill in a lawn chair.
Use of Your Streaming Subscription: Rom-Com Connoisseur
You can SAY you’re an expert on rom-coms but until you’ve done a deep-dive into the lesser knowns, are you really a connoisseur? I thought I knew rom-coms, so imagine my surprise when I found myself in the corner of Tiktok where Jason Sudeikis stans share clips of this movie sixteen times a day. It’s a deep cut worth your time.
So many recognizable faces in this movie; how did I never watch it?! This does sound up my alley. I am not on JS TikTok, BUT I literally just a few days ago saw some guy who was picking out his favorite rom-coms of all time and highlighted this movie as his most favorite, so this feels like a sign I need to go and watch.
There is something about Amanda Peet that I enjoy watching. I also get her and Lake Bell confused with each other often, but I think they’re both surprisingly delightful whenever they pop up in something!
Right?! Talk about an all-star lineup. I also love Amanda Peet. Did you ever watch her VERY short-lived NBC show Bent? It was a rom-com type show where she played a – duh- uptight woman and her contractor on her house renovation was played by David Walton? It was an enemies to lovers thing but they CANCELLED THE SHOW right before their first kiss and I’ll never get over it.
How rude! No, I never saw that!