Why Can’t My Life Be a Rom-Com? movie review

MOVIE TITLE: Why Can’t I Be Molly Ringwald?

This romantic comedy is now available on E! Entertainment and other streaming services.

RATING: TV-14

LENGTH: 2 hours

IN A NUTSHELL:

After years of bad boyfriends, Eliza decides to follow the rules of dating from a 50-year-old self-help book about how to marry a rich man.

The film was written by Rob Lotterstein, and directed by Rich Newey.

TIPS FOR PARENTS:

A single woman talks about living with various boyfriends who don’t help pay rent.
A women’s friend tells her to trap a rich man by taking off her bathing suit top and pretending she was drowning in the water.
Another thing the woman’s friend tells her to do is buy an expensive dress, wear it, and then return it to the store the next day. Tip: talk to your kids about unethical friends.
Unmarried couples sleep together (we see some action but no nudity)
Some profanity

THEMES:

One of the characters says the most important thing is how we treat other people.
Friendship
Ambition
Love
Romance
Money and power
Hard work
Going after your true passion

THINGS I LIKED:

John Hughes movies of the 1980s had all the charm and quirk a romantic comedy should have. This new rom-com pays homage to the Hughes formula and tropes. I love movies that reference other movies. Yeah, I’m that kind of a nerd.
The young cast includes Em Haine as the leading lady, along with Sofia Munoz, Aren Buchholz, Markian Tarasiuk, and Byron Lawson. I hadn’t seen any of them in anything before.
I love movies that also reference books. In this case, it’s a how-to book that doesn’t exist in real life, although there are plenty of actual books on the same topic.
Young women today will be able to relate to some of the characters in this film.
Things move quickly, so the 2-hour movie flies by.
There is some cute humor.
We get to see character growth in the two young women who are featured in the story.
We get to spend time at a beautiful location and with the rich and beautiful people.

THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE:

The studio kept changing the title of this. One title was “Why Can’t I Be Molly Ringwald?”
I hate that “modern” young women think that being a feminist means they can be a tramp and use men.
It’s extremely predictable in every way.
As a mom, I have a lot of issues with how both of the young women behaved.
The film itself is pretty straightforward with no unique camerawork or direction.