Danielle Solzman
Desperados is the latest Netflix romantic comedy offering and to nobody’s surprise, the film is a predictably cute rom-com with a side of cringe.
Netflix has been on a tear over the last few years when it comes to romantic comedies. Desperados is just the latest offering since the streamer helped kickstart the genre with Set It Up a while ago. They find a way to keep it fresh by blending the buddy comedy with the rom-com. It works although the two friends do feel like lesser characters at times.
The big focus of the film is Wesley (Nasim Pedrad), an out-of-work guidance counselor. Her two best friends are Brooke (Anna Camp) and Kaylie (Sarah Burns). After a freak accident following a date with Sean (Lamorne Morris), Wesley starts dating sports agent Jared (Robbie Amell). The have been dating for a month when all of a sudden, Wesley hasn’t heard from Jared in almost a week. Saddened and drunk, she starts drafting an email with Brooke and Kaylie both cheering her on and adding their own thoughts. In natural comedy fashion, Jared calls right after the email was sent to alert her that he’s in Cabo following an accident. Anything that can go wrong will go wrong.
Wesley was unable to prevent the email from sending. As such, Brooke and Kaylie join her on a mission to break into Jared’s computer to delete his emails. Throwing up a curve ball is the fact that Sean is also on the resort’s premises. And yet, Wesley is intent on deleting the email from Jared’s computer. Will Sean help her in doing so? Or will they end up getting back together? You’ll just have to watch the film to find out!
Anna Camp has a minor subplot in the film that involves Heather Graham’s healer Angel de la Paz. For what it’s worth, Graham has barely any screen time. She brings her all to the performance. Camp has had a busy year on screen over the summer with appearances in The Lovebirds and Here Awhile. She’s always reliable when it comes to comedies and her performance in Desperados is not a letdown.
On the casting front, both Nasim Pedrad and Lamorne Morris work well together. The two previously played opposite each other as a couple in the final seasons of New Girl. That they’ve already worked together before helps in the film selling their on-screen chemistry.
I have to give production designer Rachel Myers and the production design team some major credit. All of the LA scenes in the film were shot in Mexico City. You could have fooled me!
Screenwriter Ellen Rapoport draws from her own experiences as far as the mere basis for the film. Minus the whole heading to Cabo to prevent an email from getting read. The premise does make for a solid film idea provided there’s plenty of comedy. There’s plenty of comedy in the film. Some jokes get a bit old really quick but you still can’t help but laugh. At the same time, there’s plenty of growth written into the characters.
If there’s a lesson to be learned from Desperados, never send emails while angry. It never ends well. We see exactly what happens in Wesley in the situation. Oh, there’s a comedy of errors to our benefit but at the same time, you can’t help but feel bad for her as a character.
DIRECTOR: Lauren Palmigiano “LP”
SCREENWRITER: Ellen Rapoport
CAST: Nasim Pedrad, Lamorne Morris, Anna Camp, Sarah Burns, with Robbie Amell and Heather Graham
