Summary
For Gary, meeting Sheila is a pure coincidence. For Sheila, she has been doing this for a long time.
In the rom-com Meet Cute, we follow Sheila (Kaley Cuoco), and she has a run-in with Gary (Pete Davidson) at a bar. The two have an awkward beginning until Sheila mentions she is from the future. Gary bites on what he perceives as a joke and furthers the date even more going to get food and then dessert. The thing is, though, Sheila wasn’t lying about being from the future; she is, and this date is what she keeps coming back to as she perceives it as the happiest day of her life.
It might sound like this is just another riff on the Groundhog’s Day formula of being stuck in a time loop. No, what differentiates this film from that is the fact that Sheila, at any moment, can proceed on to the next day. However, she keeps returning to this scene as something is holding her back from continuing on to the next day. Director Alex Lehmann does a good job of trying to differentiate this film enough while still giving it a heart. The beautiful music, matched with some scenes of the two on their date, truly showed the love that was shared in these tender moments.
Meet Cute might not be the most revolutionary rom-com there has ever been, but what writer Noga Pnueli does so well is showing the longing for a perfect day. Sheila is hurt, as is said through the dialogue, but it is also shown through her eagerness to keep making this one night as perfect as ever. Kaley Cuoco does a remarkable job displaying the longing for a better life but the fear of actually chasing after it. While she believes this is helping her, she can’t see the emotional damage she constantly brings upon herself by forcing the same day to happen over and over.
However, Sheila isn’t just hurting herself by trapping herself In this revolving door of days, she is also hurting Gary who is emotionally stuck at this moment. Sheila spends her time trying to change and alter Gary in a way that fits her perfect desires without considering what this takes out of Gary. In this role, Pete Davidson is doing something that he has never done as an actor before. Davidson has a reputation as an actor, and his roles seem to follow suit. Here, he throws away all of the loud and bombastic comedic elements he is known for and reaches to find something much more tender and pure. Gary doesn’t know what is happening, but he can still emotionally feel the weight of the situation. Pete Davidson plays this beautifully, giving a fully heartfelt performance.
Meet Cute doesn’t do anything to change the rom-com, but it is a valuable addition nonetheless. Pete Davidson and Kaley Cuoco have surprisingly good chemistry in roles that are against their type for them as actors. It’s highly predictable at times, but it’s cute, and that’s all you can ask for from a film like this.
Read More: Meet Cute Ending Explained
