Summary
Just Say Yes cribs elements from countless other romantic comedies for an unoriginal and predictable, though oddly watchable 90 minutes.
This review of Just Say Yes is spoiler-free.
Despite only being released on Netflix this weekend, you’ve seen Just Say Yes before. It enthusiastically repackages all the expected tropes and ideas, builds to a predictable conclusion, and offers nothing original on the way there. But, having said that, it’s inoffensive enough thanks to a breezy pace, easy-on-the-eye performers, and a welcome self-awareness. It isn’t trying to be anything more than it is, and that’s just fine.
Lotte (Yolanthe Cabau), the film’s gorgeous protagonist, is the classic hopeless romantic trapped in a relationship with a very handsome but obviously awful guy named Alex (Juvat Westendorp) who gets cold feet about their impending wedding just in time for the television studio where they both work to broadcast it live to millions of people. Crestfallen, Lotte works with equally handsome colleague Chris (Jim Bakkum) to better herself personally and professionally, while tormenting smug Alex all the while.
This is all so predictable that most readers will have figured out the ending based on that summary alone, but that’s the territory we’re in here, I’m afraid. Just Say Yes attempts to complicate matters with several other character-based subplots, including Lotte’s sister Estelle (Noortje Herlaar) getting engaged to her boss, John (Edwin Jonker), at precisely the worst time. While most of this feels like filler designed to pad out the core love triangle, it mostly comes together for a decent payoff in the finale, even if the film has to rely on a last-minute montage epilogue to tie up loose ends.
Just Say Yes occasionally gets bogged down by trying to be too clever and irreverent for its own good, leaning against obvious stylistic cues until they become tired, but the framing device of Lotte in a ruined wedding dress telling her story to a random dude on a park bench works surprisingly well, even if it doesn’t exactly amount to much. Those two have chemistry, as it happens. They should get together.
Of course, there’s no room for subversion of tropes in a film like this, even if it feints in that direction now and again. In the end, it always backs out of being more daring, contenting itself with a well-worn formula that it adheres to closely. For some, it’ll be one rom-com too many, but for those in the market, there’s enough pep in the step of Just Say Yes to justify a cautious recommendation.
