Happy New Year. I watched New Years Day. What a brilliant, light, funny, thought provoking movie. Yeah, I recommend anyone watch this film, the women need to see it and the men will say, yep, I get it.
Hollywood’s bible Variety Magazine said it was a must watch of 2025 a Rom Com style movie with a deeper much more intrinsic message. We decided it was either written by someone extremely clever, who just had to give a genius film a studio ending or perhaps happened by default that the brilliant themes and realities conceived in this film cannot ever be followed through on, as that would shatter the whole LOVE illusion that is challenged in this film and thus “Hollywood” would cease to exist. No studio boss is going to green light that that must not be talked about, so writer Celine Song is forced to give us the unlikely yet predictable ending somewhat erasing all the good writing throughout for me.
The film takes on the business premise is that Marriage is indeed a contract and when a matchmaker is involved they are more caring PIMP than professional service provider. No matchmaker can ever dispatch the perfect partner conceived on a piece of paper as a list of qualities and attributes something the Materialist manages to challenge and produce humour from at every turn.
The film was interesting for me as I spent a few years working for a very prestigious matchmaker so had insight into the workings of the business of love and could entirely relate to both the celebration at a marriage culminating from a match and the darker side, the disappointment side when some clients don’t get what they want. And the stress delivered to the matchmaker, come friend, come therapist having to constantly recalibrate their clients back on the horse after a fall.
Lucy Mason, delicately played by Dakota Johnson, the daughter of Melanie Griffiths and Don Johnson dances the fine line between shrewd professional $80,000 a year matchmaker, a working girl, surviving the high rents and expensive living in Manhattan, maintaining a polished appearance, iPhone constantly at the ready for her well heeled high maintenance clients. When you’ve paid a lot of money, matchmakers fees run in the thousands not the hundreds, you expect bang for your buck.
She’s juggling two guys, her broke, working as a waiter, waiting to be an actor, ex boyfriend, John played by Chris Evans, and her unicorn potential client Harry Castillo, (Pedro Pascual) brother of one of her fixed up clients she meets at his wedding on the singles table.
It’s got all the elements of a great chick flick, love triangle between the gorgeous leads, glamour, money, luxury travel and fabulous restaurants inter woven with real life, financial struggles, hard work and the realities of life.
The person who wrote it, Celine Song had worked as Matchmaker and her experience was evident in the script. It matched mine to a tee.
Mid Forties to Late Fifties affluent men all want to date women under 30. No one will date a woman forty plus and 35 and female you are a borderline past your sell by date commodity.
In the agency I worked for all the men paid, expect the younger good looking ones happy to date older and in reverse all the good looking women didn’t pay. They were on the books for the older men with money that won’t date over thirty.
The film was also directed by Celine Song known for her acclaimed debut Past Lives. She’s a Canadian playwright and screenwriter and has cleverly crafted this romantic comedy-drama about love, class, and modern relationships.
There is one very unexpected twist in the movie which shocked me and made me challenge my own views about the type of men I date and my own checklist, not dissimilar to The Materialist herself. I am sure many other people both men and women who say they are not prepared to settle but also long to feel valued and receive validation for who they are would connect, enjoy and learn something about themselves from this film.
Great clothes, great sets, lovely lux movie set in NYC, and a memorable soundtrack, tackling the challenges of dating and connection, and with humour, sometimes a little snide, with a stark brutality of life on the side, what’s not to love.