'Set it Up' review — Netflix rekindles the flame of romantic comedy

Set it Up follows two overworked and underpaid assistants as they “parent trap” their horrible bosses.

30-second review: I think anyone that grew up in the 2000s has a soft spot for that perfect romantic comedy. The kind that has perfect one-liners that you can work into everyday life and characters who live lives that you could only aspire to in unrealistically large apartments and scenes that make your heart flutter at the thought of them happening in real life.

Set it Up mines those tropes and makes me feel nostalgic for those breezy romantic comedies. And while it hits a lot of those familiar plot beats, the movie surpasses other contemporary rom-coms because director Claire Scanlon and the charming leads have a great sense of comedic timing and the propensity for subtle, but effective physical comedy. It’s one of those movies that you’ll want to come back to over and over again.

Where to watch Set it Up: Now streaming on Netflix.

★★★

The romantic comedy was nearly destroyed by the 2000s the same way the slasher genre was destroyed by the 80s. The oversaturation of generic rom-coms with the same gorgeous (mostly white) leads and the formulaic plot eventually led to its downfall.

Year after year, we watched the same movie time after time. Guy meets girl, they hit it off, they’re happy for a time, something happens to make them not happy, but then they’re happy in the end. Last year, The Big Sick made huge strides to bring the genre back. However, it wasn’t exactly the light and easy broad comedy that makes you want to watch it over and over again until you can quote every line.

I think anyone that grew up in the 2000s has a soft spot for that perfect romantic comedy. The kind that has perfect one-liners that you can work into everyday life and characters who live lives that you could only aspire to live in unrealistically large apartments and scenes that make your heart flutter at the thought of them happening in real life.

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Set it Up mines those tropes and makes me feel nostalgic for those breezy romantic comedies. And while it hits a lot of those familiar plot beats, the movie surpasses other contemporary rom-coms like How to Be Single and What’s Your Number? because of two women: director Claire Scanlon and screenwriter Katie Silberman.

Set it Up is essentially a retelling of The Parent Trap — it even references it at one point. Assistants Harper (Zoey Deutch) and Charlie (Glen Powell) are both living the nightmare scenario when it comes to a job in the city. While other assistants finally leave work at a late but decent hour, Harper and Charlie are stuck tending to their bosses Kirsten (Lucy Liu) and Rick (Taye Diggs), respectively. Imagine the relationship between Andy and Miranda Priestly in The Devil Wears Prada.

Both assistants are toughing it out in their jobs to hopefully progress to something more. However, one frantic late night trying to get dinner from a closed restaurant that their bosses won’t end up eating will make anyone desperate. So, when Harper and Charlie meet on one of those frantic nights, it becomes clear that they can help each other out.

Harper comes up with a plan to Cyrano their bosses. Charlie prefers the more simple parent trapping. Together they hatch a plot to get their two overworked bosses to fall in love with each other and give Harper and Charlie a chance to have time for themselves. This plot involves a hacked elevator — featuring Tituss Burgess in one of the funniest scenes of the movie — the kiss cam at a Yankees game, and manipulating nearly every aspect of their lives to force them together.

Of course, though, this isn’t really Kirsten and Rick’s love story. It’s Harper and Charlie’s. Through all the shenanigans of getting their bosses together, the pair also learns more deeply about each other. Harper is working for Kirsten, one of the nation’s most notable sports reporters, in the hopes of eventually writing for her website.

Of course, that doesn’t leave her much time to actually write or date — she’s never had a boyfriend. Charlie, on the other hand, is dating model Suze (Joan Smalls who is quite good in this small role), but doesn’t have time to dedicate to the relationship as he hopes for a promotion under venture capitalist Rick.

Romantic comedies are only as good as their leads and Set it Up is no exception. It’s already hard to imagine the movie with Deutch and Powell. Their chemistry is perfect and permeating even without contrived moments of romantic tension, though one scene involving a pizza had me swooning.

Scanlon also benefited from the actors’ pitch-perfect comedic timing and propensity for subtle, but effective physical comedy. Watching Harper frantically walking into Kirsten’s office after being called in is a delight every time. What’s also delightful is Silberman’s quirky script. It’s filled with all the wackiness you’d expect in a movie like this, but with filled out characters and backstories.

What’s so refreshing about Set it Up is that every character has a moment. Liu is a consummate pro and plays steely better than anyone else in the business. Diggs is playing to the cheap seats with his over-the-top finance-bro character. However, even small one-scene characters like Burgess or Noah Robbins, who plays an intern who is quickly fired, or a delivery man trapped in an elevator or a jewelry salesperson caught in the middle of an argument all have their moments to shine.

Still, Deutch and Powell are the stars here and drive Set it Up with incredible charm. It’s one of those movies that you’ll want to come back to over and over again. It’s one of those movies that you’ll be nostalgic for a decade from now. You can’t manufacture charm in a movie like this. It takes talent. And there’s a lot of talent behind this movie, Scanlon, Silberman, Deutch, Powell, Liu, Diggs.

Set it Up is the perfect example of a broad romantic comedy done right. It adheres to the formula for the most part but isn’t afraid to break it. It has its own style and moves to beat of its own drum. It could be trimmed by 10 minutes and Pete Davidson‘s gay roommate character is questionable, but that’s all part of the nostalgia too, honestly. Set it Up is a good old-fashioned rom-com that is worth your time, even if you’re just overdicking around.

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Hey! I’m Karl. You can find me on Twitter here. I’m also a Tomatometer-approved critic.

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Karl Delossantos

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Hey, I'm Karl, founder and film critic at Smash Cut. I started Smash Cut in 2014 to share my love of movies and give a perspective I haven't yet seen represented. I'm also an editor at The New York Times, a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, and a member of the Online Film Critics Society.