TONYA MOSLEY, HOST:
This is FRESH AIR. In the new romantic drama "Materialists," Dakota Johnson plays a savvy New York City matchmaker who finds herself caught between two men, played by Chris Evans and Pedro Pascal. It's the latest movie written and directed by Celine Song, whose 2023 drama "Past Lives" received three Oscar nominations. Our film critic Justin Chang has this review.
JUSTIN CHANG, BYLINE: The Korean Canadian writer-director, Celine Song made her feature debut two years ago with "Past Lives," a quietly captivating drama loosely inspired by Song's relationship with her husband, an American, and her brief reunion with a childhood sweetheart from Korea. It was the gentlest of love triangles, as well as a sneakily philosophical movie about cross-cultural connections and fateful encounters. And so I had high expectations for Song's new film, "Materialists." Like "Past Lives," it's a thoughtful tale of romantic indecision but in a glossier key with a star-studded cast. Dakota Johnson plays Lucy, a professional matchmaker for a company called Adore. She arranges dates for New Yorkers who are tired of Hinge or Bumble and willing to pay thousands of dollars or more to meet their potential soulmates. Lucy is very good at her job and it's given her a coolly pragmatic view of happily ever after. For her, people are basically human spreadsheets - little more than the sum of their physical and financial attributes. At a wedding reception, she meets a handsome bachelor, Harry - that's Pedro Pascal - who's clearly interested in her. But Lucy just wants to bring him aboard as a client.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "MATERIALISTS")
DAKOTA JOHNSON: (As Lucy) Love is easy.
PEDRO PASCAL: (As Harry) Is it? I find it to be the most difficult thing in the world.
JOHNSON: (As Lucy) That's because we can't help it. It just walks into our lives sometimes.
PASCAL: (As Harry) Are you hitting on me?
JOHNSON: (As Lucy) Definitely not.
PASCAL: (As Harry) Ah.
JOHNSON: (As Lucy) But I do think that you would be a great match for a lot of our clients. We need more straight men in New York City. You look about six feet tall. How much money do you make?
PASCAL: (As Harry) Just straight up like that.
JOHNSON: (As Lucy) I make 80 grand a year before taxes. Do you make more or less than that?
PASCAL: (As Harry) More.
JOHNSON: (As Lucy) I know. Finance, right?
PASCAL: (As Harry) Private equity.
CHANG: Johnson and Pascal have good chemistry, and the best scenes in "Materialists" belong to them. There's a nice tension between Harry's suave charm and Lucy's professional reserve. Johnson finds the nuance in Lucy's inner conflict. She wants to marry rich herself, but she's held back by her belief that only rich should marry rich. And Harry isn't just rich. He is, in matchmaker parlance, a unicorn, the complete package in terms of looks, smarts and wealth. But Harry says he's interested in what he calls Lucy's intangible assets. And she eventually relents, letting him take her out to fabulous restaurants and then back to his $12 million Tribeca penthouse. Not since "Fifty Shades Of Grey" has a Dakota Johnson character been so thoroughly swept off her feet.
Around the same time, though, Lucy reconnects with her ex-boyfriend, John, played by Chris Evans. They broke up a while ago for money reasons, and John, a cater-waiter and aspiring actor, isn't much better off now than he was then. They still have feelings for each other, but for Lucy, the math doesn't add up. Considerations of love versus money have, of course, been a staple of romantic fiction, going back to at least the days of Jane Austen. And Song means to put her own distinct riff on it here. The skill that she brought to "Past Lives" is very much in evidence from the heart-on-sleeve candor of the dialogue to the elegance of Shabier Kirchner's cinematography, which often basks in the visual splendor of a bright New York afternoon. I've rarely seen Central Park or a Sabrett hot dog cart photographed so lovingly, all of which makes me wish that I ultimately liked "Materialists" more. But after an absorbing first hour, the movie feels increasingly undone by its own ambitions. It can't reconcile the screwball vigor of a comedy with the emotional oomph of a drama.
It's worth noting that although "Materialists" isn't autobiographical, Song did once work as a matchmaker, and she seems keen to expose some of the less savory realities of the profession, including the blatant racism and sexism of some of Lucy's clients. One subplot addresses sexual violence in the world of modern dating. And although you can admire Song for not shying away from the subject, the ensuing drama leaves Lucy's romantic dilemma feeling trivial by comparison. I never really bought that dilemma to begin with. Although Evans is an appealing performer, John isn't much of a character. He loves Lucy. He's a starving artist. And that's about it. It's hard to imagine that someone as coolheaded and unsentimental as Lucy would seriously entertain getting back together with this guy, who shares a crummy apartment with two slovenly roommates straight out of a Judd Apatow romp. In order to make Lucy's situation halfway plausible, "Materialists" winds up dumbing her down and selling Johnson's smart, tough-minded performance short. In trying to teach Lucy about how relationships are more than math, it's the movie that doesn't add up.
MOSLEY: Justin Chang is a film critic for The New Yorker. He reviewed "Materialists," starring Dakota Johnson. If you'd like to catch up on interviews you've missed, like our conversation with comedian Atsuko Okatsuka about finding humor in the dysfunction of her immigrant family or with writer Molly Jong-Fast on the issues she faced as the daughter of the famous novelist Erica Jong, check out our podcast. There you'll find lots of FRESH AIR interviews. And to find out what's happening behind the scenes of our show and get our producers' recommendations for what to watch, read and listen to, subscribe to our free newsletter at whyy.org/freshair.
FRESH AIR's executive producer is Danny Miller. Our technical director and engineer is Audrey Bentham. Our managing producer is Sam Briger. Our interviews and reviews are produced and edited by Phyllis Myers, Roberta Shorrock, Ann Marie Baldonado, Lauren Krenzel, Therese Madden, Monique Nazareth, Susan Nyakundi and Anna Bauman. Our digital media producer is Molly Seavy-Nesper. Our consulting visual producer is Hope Wilson (ph). Thea Chaloner directed today's show. With Terry Gross, I'm Tonya Mosley.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "GOD ONLY KNOWS")
THE BEACH BOYS: (Singing) I may not always love you. But long as there are stars above you, you never need to doubt it. I'll make you so sure about it. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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