Review of Good on Paper (2021) by Flipje — 24 Jun 2021

This mostly feels like a Netflix film. There is something about Netflix where the majority of their films feel 'not quite there' in terms of substance and story. They are mainly 'good' or 'decently average'.

Like franchise restaurant food where the calories you shovel into your face could almost be decent, Netflix is somewhere between the Olive Garden and T.G.I.Friday's of entertainment. It is pleasant and you don't often risk too much heartburn.

Basically, regrets are mild, never painful (i.e. no late night bathroom visits). And the reason I am awarding 'Good on Paper' seven stars instead of 5 or 6 (which one-third the script would merit) is because of the likeable characters in this film.

The 'is he/she a grifter/using me/playing me?' storyline is fairly bland 'on paper' (I had to find somewhere to 'sneak' that in, a little on the nose, right?) and at one point, the 'heartburn' of this part in the drama/screenplay was telling me, 'turn this off, turn this off, read a book, learn an instrument, take back your life'.

This moment occurred when the couples go golfing and Dennis (Hansen) fakes a back injury to get out of teeing up. The hackneyed moment borders on cringe, but I thought, okay, let's see this through. Second chances.

Otherwise, up to this point, I was growing impatient with the likeable lead, Andrea (Schlesinger) but thankfully, thankfully, the film backed off the maudlin cliff of being formulaic and traipsed into some rather fun and whacky territory.

I would say the first thirty to forty minutes feels standard, paint by numbers in terms of the 'con' relationship story or the cuttlefish narrative (to refer to Margaret Cho's Margot describing Dennis's involvement with Andrea).

This first third, fair warning, you have seen this run-of-the-mill crud before where everything is at first great with the con person (or person of con) Dennis then you are suspicious (where does he live, why does he have roommates, etc.

) and you, along with Andrea continue asking all the other irking questions concerning his background. However, the middle and the last third of this film brought some redemption to the table. The actual adventure of discovery Andrea makes is a pleasure and brings on some patiently-deserved laughs.

I started to chuckle more. I was smiling. Andrea with the help of Margot and an actress rival, Serena, roped unintentionally along, embark on some amateur sleuthing. Next, there is the comical and sincere catharsis following a botched/pseudo kidnapping and with the revelation, the confession flying out of Dennis' lips you might think it was going to end but the fake 'Mr.

Nice Guy', maintaining his role as pathetic idiot, has to get in his last demented digs with some courtroom drama. By the end I was pleased. It started off like Olive Garden goop pasta and ended up more like T.

G.I.Friday's ribs. The satisfaction was there. So prepare yourself for a lackluster first act, a fun middle and a weird-maybe-quirky-but-never-disturbing final. I will also say, I didn't really know Iliza Schleshinger's comedy work before and if this film inspires curiosity, that is also a plus.