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“Meet Cute,” a term that serves as the title for Peacock’s recent original film, embodies an entire romantic comedy trope. It refers to the initial interaction between two individuals that results in a romantic relationship, and these chance encounters are usually characterized by charming and/or amusing writing. There are countless examples of “meet-cutes” in mainstream film: Just take a look at “The Holiday” or “Reality Bites,” “The Big Sick,” or “(500) Days of Summer” (a true textbook example). Meet-cute films are everywhere, and upon learning the simplistic title of Peacock’s new film, one has to wonder how much a movie with this name can expand on such a widely represented, oft-repeating genre.
At the beginning, “Meet Cute” is exactly what one would expect. The movie opens on protagonist Sheila (Kaley Cuoco) sitting alone in a bar, where she eyes potential love interest Gary (Pete Davidson) as he scribbles on some stray coasters.
If you ignore Sheila’s dramatic pre-credits opening scene, where she hurries down a colorfully-lit nighttime street, as well as her strange quips that she’s from the future, this movie could be a carbon copy of countless meet-cute films of the past. Even Pete Davidson’s performance as reserved, awkward Gary isn’t all too jarring — although the fact that he was cast in the first place is a good indicator that the film probably won’t take itself too seriously.
And “Meet Cute” definitely doesn’t keep many cards up its sleeve — before the end of the first cliché bar run-in, the audience knows essentially everything they need to know about the movie. It’s a rom-com, of sorts, but there seems to be a half-baked attempt at irony within the setup, and Sheila also has control over the unsuspecting Gary through her time travel powers. There don’t seem to be many more layers for the audience to decipher throughout the film — but then again, “Meet Cute” does not seem to be aiming to engage the audience much intellectually.
However, it becomes clear that there are some darker underlying elements to this seemingly lighthearted film. When Sheila admits to Gary in yet another bar that she killed the version of herself from the future (before she traveled back in time), she elaborates in an offhanded tone: “My car, just like, vrrr, right over her face.” Pretty soon after this development, Sheila's complex motivations for traveling back in time are revealed, lending the film more emotional depth. The audience also holds witness to unsettling scenes of her indeed running her car over her own body on several occasions.
To say that the combination of these darker, more severe thematic moments with the lighthearted performances by the two main actors is unnerving would be an understatement. At the end of the day, Pete Davidson is Pete Davidson — regardless of how sincere a role he plays, it’s almost impossible to fully separate him from the comedic brand which launched him into fame. The fact that Davidson’s Gary is supposed to be an excessively normal, unfunny, bland guy leaves the audience expecting some sort of comedic shift in his character, and the lack of this transformation makes Gary seem almost ironic but unrealized. Although Gary has a handful of lines of halfheartedly funny dialogue throughout the play — on one of many repeated dates, he asks Sheila if she knew that the movie “Predator” had both Jesse Ventura and Arnold Schwarzenegger, concluding: “I mean, that has to be a Snapple fact, or something” — his character on the whole is underwhelming, and simply serves as a punching bag for Sheila's increasingly manic behavior.
In addition to its slightly off-putting mix of rom-com tropes and sci-fi psychological thrills, “Meet Cute” also takes a stab at social critique. On Sheila and Gary’s first date, they go to an ice cream truck, just to discover that the only flavor is “ice cream made out of milk left to soak for two weeks and Fruity Pebble cereal served on a cone made out of deconstructed peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.” This criticism of modern upscale food trends is not a one-off — on a later date at a fancy restaurant, Sheila asks about a miniscule dish served to her: “Um, is that a tiny fish? Are we supposed to eat this stuff?” Later on during a fight, when Sheila reminds Gary that her actions came from a good place, he responds with flair, “Yeah, so did gender reveal parties.” Although in many cases the witty commentary in “Meet Cute” does not fall too far off the mark, the movie is juggling too many other genres and delivery tones for these quips to come off any other way than overkill.
At the end of the day, “Meet Cute” tries at too much, and succeeds at too little. The combination of a lighthearted, comedic framework with darker — and at times very serious — psychological themes, does not result in a successfully cohesive film. Despite the happy ending, “Meet Cute” cannot deliver on its many promises — but the lighthearted performances of Cuoco and Davidson are still inherently entertaining.
