May 23, 2022
Lola Alvarez (Victoria Justice) was a hard-working account executive for the L.A.-based wine-company Mythos, run by a slave-driver boss Calder (Craig Horner). After a painful betrayal from her supposed friend at work Audra (Lucy Durack) who claimed Lola's new business idea (previously shared by Lola to her in confidence) as her own, Lola had to make a major decision either to stay on at Mythos or strike out and start her own company.
In her dogged determination to land a major up-and-coming Australian wine label owned by CEO Hazel Vaughn (Samantha Cain), Lola volunteered her services to work as a ranch hand (or "jillaroo") at the Vaughn's sheep station doing tough duties like mending fences to shoveling manure. Over the next two weeks, station manager Max (Adam Demos) slowly fell for Lola's perseverance and humor, and she with his air of mystery and philosophical quotes.
Ever since she burst into the limelight in Nickelodeon's shows "Zoey 101" (2005-2008) and "Victorious" (2010-2013), Victoria Justice clearly had the charm and disposition to be a rom-com star. Now more mature at 29 years old, Justice was irresistibly cute in those scenes of Lola awkwardly trying to learn all the heavy chores at the sheep ranch. She was likewise at home in the light dramatic scenes as Lola balanced a new career and a budding romance.
Adam Demos played Max as a no-nonsense ranch manager, who kept a web of secrets about his past he was unwilling to share. Like how it was that Max was obviously falling for Lola, it was also not very subtle what the big mystery was about his real identity was. Coming from a daring series like "Sex/Life" (2021), it was not a surprise that Demos would also have shirtless scenes in this new film, although they were not really needed in story.
With a title like "A Perfect Pairing," it was not really a big secret how the whole story would end. The flow of the story followed the typical rom-com formula. Girl meets boy, rough start, fall in love. One of them kept a critical secret which the other did not appreciate, so they split up. I need not say what happens next. Setting this familiar story on a scenic Australian sheep farm and a script enriched with posh vino-culture set it apart from the typical sorts. 5/10.
No comments:
Post a Comment