A Perfect Pairing movie review

MOVIE TITLE: A Perfect Pairing

This rom-com premieres on Netflix on May 19, 2022

RATING: PG

LENGTH: 1 hour 41 minutes

IN A NUTSHELL:

When Lola (Victoria Justice), a hard-driving LA wine company sales exec, quits her job in hopes of starting her own wine distribution company, she eagerly books herself a plane ticket to rural Australia to chase her first potential client, Vaughn Family Wines. Unfortunately for Lola, the Vaughn Family is not interested in doing business with a fledgling company. Eager to prove herself, Lola volunteers to fill a vacant position on the Vaughn sheep farm as a farmhand. At first, Lola doesn’t seem cut out for the tough work of mending fences and wrangling sheep, but she and the dashing station manager Max (Adam Demos) strike up a friendship as he trains her. And, as they open up to one another, Lola discovers that Australia has introduced her to much more than just a love for entrepreneurship with a newfound love for Max. But will Max’s secrets prevent Lola from reaping what she romantically sows?

The film was directed by Stuart McDonald.

THINGS I LIKED:

Victoria Justice is adorable and darling and straight-up gorgeous. She can sing too and has some good physical humor moments. I first saw her in another Netflix movie a few months ago called Afterlife of the Party.
I’ve never seen Adam Demos in anything before. He was most recently in Falling Inn Love, another Netflix movie, but I still haven’t seen that one.
If you enjoy romantic Hallmark-type movies, you’ll enjoy this.
Lovely cinematography of Napa Valley and Australia.
It’s fun to hear all of the Australian accents and slang.
It’s cute to hear Lola (Victoria Justice) think of sheep names: Meryl Sheep, Calista Flockhart, and Baaabra Streisand.
There are a couple of cute group songs.
You get to see a baby kangaroo.
Flatoutbear. Super cute.
I love all of the inspirational quotes. I actually have a podcast called “Daily Inspirational Quote Hosted by Trina Boice”! You can hear it on all podcast platforms, and you can also add it to your Alexa “flash briefing”. You can learn more about it at https://anchor.fm/daily-inspirational-quote
Cute title.
I don’t drink alcohol, but I still really enjoyed this.

THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE:

It’s pretty predictable.
If you don’t like snakes, brace yourself. You see two of them: one dangerous, the other not.
I thought Lola’s reaction when she learned a secret was odd. She should have been excited but I understand that the writers were trying to create a dramatic moment in the “hero’s journey” for the sake of a climax.
There’s a friendship that breaks apart but then, all of a sudden, they’re besties again.
There are definitely some cheese moments.
A missed opportunity was when Lola wanted to see a Koala bear.

TIPS FOR PARENTS:

A lesbian relationship is shown.
Kids will be extremely bored.
People get drunk.

THEMES:

Grit and tenacity
Risk
Work-life balance
Friendship
Love
Second chances

FUNNY LINES:

* “Female friendship is overrated.” – Lola (Victoria Justice)

“Do you have wool in your ears? What the flock?” – Lola (Victoria Justice)
“Australia, showing off again.” – Lola (Victoria Justice)

INTERESTING LINES:

“Is your gut telling you to do this? Then I say, let’s go a lot of bold and a little crazy.” – Dad (Korey Williams)
“If you jump in the saddle, be ready for the ride.” – Max (Adam Demos)
“Sometimes you have to take risks. Believe in yourself. You know, go big or go home.” – Lola (Victoria Justice)
“Well, a stubborn horse walks ahead of the herd.” – (Adam Demos)
“Once bitten, twice shy.” – Lola (Victoria Justice)