Summary
While the leads are charming and have just the right amount of chemistry, this romance is remarkably dull and complacent.
We review the Amazon Prime Video film Something from Tiffany’s Prime Video, which does not contain spoilers.
There is a palpable chemistry between Zoey Deutch (Buffaloed) and Kendrick Sampson (Miss Juneteenth). Maybe the type of chemistry that comes from two attractive people with piercing eyes makes viewers swoon more than anything. Yet, no amount of eyes filled with blue or hazel water through an ultimate high-definition television can distract you from the lame brain and complacent adaptation of Melissa Hill’s popular book. (Having never read the source material, they could have captured it perfectly for all I know). It’s truly a fantasy you can get lost in, as is most of the characters’ fascination with carbs and having the most extraordinary metabolism that must be studied by scientists or at least get an explanation from God.
The story follows Deutch’s Rachel, a chef who owns a bakery in New York City. She is dating Gary (Licorice Pizza‘s Ray Nicholson), a tattoo artist who is a screw-up, and his girlfriend makes endless excuses for him. On one snowy, picturesque night in the big apple, Gary walks into Tiffany’s, the renowned jewelry store, looking to buy his girlfriend something that could go in one of those little blue boxes. At the same time, Sampson’s Ethan buys his girlfriend, Vanessa (You‘s Shay Mitchell), an engagement ring, along with the help of his daughter Daisy (Beast‘s Leah Jeffries).
However, when they leave into a scene that looks like a live-action snow globe, Gary rushes past them and is hit by a cab. While on the ground, Ethan runs up to ensure the man is alright and places his little blue bag from Tiffany’s next to him. When the ambulance arrives, he picks up the bag and leaves. Only later do both realize they have the wrong gift. Unfortunately, the mistake is discovered on Christmas day. Rachel thinks she is being proposed to, and Gary has no memory of that evening from hitting his head. Ethan is left shocked when Vanessa opens up the gift for a pair of earrings that pale in comparison.
Will Gary admit they didn’t buy the ring? Of course, but only when confronted. Will Ethan get the ring back? Of course, but only after wasting two acts filled with filler. Will Vanessa ever be proposed to? Maybe, but does it matter since we know she is not pictured in the poster? Something from Tiffany’s is precisely what you think it is, with little surprises. Which, understandably, is part of this genre’s appeal. It’s never about life together but the excitement of a new beginning. Yet Tamara Chestna‘s script is stretched so thin that nothing could have been accomplished within 30 minutes of screen time. The plot holes are alarming and are never explained. (Why on earth is Ethan proposing to a woman when he wants to move to the east coast?).
The other big issue is not an adequate ending to this rom-com that wraps up everything too neatly. We are never treated to some cheesy metaphor while needing some bread on how love is messy. The fact is these relationships are so obviously doomed from the beginning. There is little suspense in the storytelling or little fun in the blooming romance.
Fans of cheesy, nostalgia-filled romantic comedies deserve better.
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