Review of Set It Up (2018) by Liunaticfringe — 14 Jun 2018

A woman (Katie Silberman) wrote Set It Up, a woman (Claire Scanlon) directed it, and a pair of smart, talented actresses (Zoey Deutch, Lucy Liu) carry it over the goal line. It's so lovely to see a rom-com from a distinctly female point of view, where the women involved are not portrayed as desperate and love-deprived, but rather as take-it-or-leave-it, the guy-better-get-with-my-program types who are driven, accomplished entrepreneurs and/or have actual career goals. And putting aside those goals for marriage or children isn't even on the table.

Do you guys realize how rare that is?

Lucy Liu's famed sports reporter Kirsten is smart, accomplished and badass. And of course, Liu knocks it out of the park. Comedy is in her DNA, but she finds and plays the real depth there too. Taye Diggs does his villain thing and Zoey Deutch and Glenn Powell kill it with a cap K as the parent-trapping assistants. They're Hanks-and-Ryan perfect together, showing a surprising amount of emotion and depth, as well as boatloads of smarts, charm and great comic timing. (Their real-life Instagram antics are adorable too.).

Silberman's script is tight as a drum -- every set-up is expertly paid off, there are real-life stakes and the complications keeping the main couple apart are actually believable.

Finally, if you'll notice, most of the male critics were significantly more unimpressed than the female ones. Sorry, fellas. Look at the movie's poster and look around you. Girls rule, boys drool.