If you’re in the mood for a rom-com to start off the summer, I recommend that you catch this one. The film stars Zoey Deutch (Jill), one of my three favorite young actresses (the other two being Molly Gordon of “Oh, Hi!” and Michelle Randolph of “Landman”). Leah McKendrick is following in the footsteps of Sylvester Stallone by writing, directing, and acting (as Breeda) in the movie. She’s very talented, and I expect that she will write and direct many more good films.
Jill and her few-years-younger sister, Isabelle (a.k.a. Izzy, played by Ciara Bravo) are extremely close. Izzy has a severe case of cystic fibrosis and needs an oxygen machine. Izzy can’t do much, so, as young girls, they do things at home together, like cooking – which is how Jill became an excellent self-taught cook. A few minutes into the film, Jill is now in her 20’s, and has left her hometown Austin, moving to San Francisco and trying to become a pastry chef. She is very frustrated with her career, since she is toiling at a well-regarded French restaurant run by the abusive celebrity Chef Bastien (Nick Offerman), where she gets no chance to truly show her skills or to be creative. Jill maintains her closeness to Izzy by calling her often and sharing her life’s adventures with her, since Izzy is housebound or sometimes even in the hospital. Essentially, Izzy lives vicariously through Jill. Not only is Jill’s career disappointing, but so is her dating life. Nevertheless, Jill still remains an over-the-top, fun-loving, live-life-to-the-fullest, humorous, optimistic young woman, with Izzy still remaining her closest person and most important emotional support. Unfortunately, Izzy tragically dies, and, as a way of coping with her intense grief, Jill continues sending voicemails to Izzy, sharing her life’s ups and downs with her. Jill also listens to old voicemails left by Izzy that she never deleted from her phone.
Working as a successful commercial real estate agent living in Austin, Wes (Nick Robinson) is given a work phone, and now has Izzy’s prior cell phone number. Jill, however, doesn’t know this. Jill keeps leaving messages for Izzy, like she has done all her life. Nick listens to them and becomes increasingly enchanted with her. He is lonely, enjoys the humorous and endearing voicemails, and doesn’t want to reveal this fact to Jill. Nick has a chance to close a lucrative office lease deal in S.F. and arranges a two-week vacation there, with the main purpose being to meet and hang out with Jill. He knows many things about her by now, such as her favorite place to go in S.F., her favorite restaurants, and more intimate details of her life.
The movie is derivative of “You’ve Got Mail,” and Zoey Deutch is about as close to Meg Ryan as you can get, but it’s original enough and funny enough to still work pretty well. McKendrick has written the typical, predicable, formulaic, rom-com plot, so we know where it’s going: how their romance will temporarily blow-up, but soon they will eventually wind up “happily ever after;” however, since the two stars are so likeable, the film remains entertaining and enjoyable throughout.
P.S.: If you see it and know my cell phone number, leave me a voicemail telling me whether you liked it or not!
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