“Office Romance” doesn’t have any cute encounters, but the way lovers meet is just as cute. Formidable airline CEO Jackie Cruz (Jennifer Lopez) calls her new company lawyer, Daniel Blanchflower (Brett Goldstein), into her office and walks in to see what, in movie terms, is a perfect J-Lo. She faced the window, at the perfect angle to catch the afternoon sun, and turned to greet him with a perfectly effortlessly executed shampoo commercial-like toss of her caramel-colored mane. “Oh my god!” he says, and so do we, because it’s J-Lo. Or, if Jackie Cruz is your thing, Ol Parker’s light-hearted romantic comedy is smart enough to blur the divide. Its star power sinks in like taking a warm bath, even if the charmingly grumpy Goldstein doesn’t match the voltage, which is the main point.
Given the self-explanatory title, you probably wouldn’t think too much about “Office Romance.” Most of the time it hits the beats you expect, the way you expect. And that extends to the two leads having fun typing: a powerful glamazon goddess and a very ordinary English guy thrown together for no reason other than the fact that they’re really hot for each other. Will the chemistry between them heat up? Yes and no. Parker’s film is surprisingly explicit where it needs to be, but it’s not sexual, so there’s one hard gag that feels awkward. So, in the words of its own screenplay, you don’t have to believe that “Helen of Troy and Mr. Bean” is going to be spectacularly nasty from the get-go. But you buy what they want, against their own better instincts and self-assessment. And that’s enough to keep you invested.
For a star widely seen as the queen of the genre, Lopez has done little to qualify as the keeper of romantic comedies. The most recent films, “Second Act,” “Marry Me,” and “Shotgun Wedding,” all centered around Lopez and had a thin, TV feel to them, but they didn’t treat her with any obvious care or affection. “Office Romance,” a direct Netflix release, is modest in scope and technique, but it has the tactile, glossy warmth that was common in ’90s star vehicles, and it reflects its star thanks to glittering cinematography (by Wes Anderson regular Robert Yeoman) and production design (by industry veteran Christy Zehr) that feels pleasantly lacquered and realistic. Costume designer Caroline Duncan dressed her in expensive, earth-toned knits and buttery draping ivory pantsuits. It’s been a while since Lopez was so thoroughly and lovingly cared for on screen.
And thanks to Goldstein, who co-wrote “Office Romance” with “Ted Lasso” co-creator Joe Kelly, the film has a comedic voice that’s recognizable, if not immediately associated with Lopez. The language is bluer than your typical comforting rom-com, with a key joke hinged on the differing influence of a particular four-letter c-word in British and American culture. A subplot in which the film ultimately serves as a reassuring voice of reason to an unrepentant psychopathic murderer stands out for its similarly needle-scratching weirdness. Some of these flashes are funny to the point of being off-putting, while others simply stop the movie’s progress momentarily. However, there is no sense of anonymity. At least in part a story of culture clash, the text shifts to pay attention to how the characters understand, or don’t understand, each other.
Jackie herself is a regular in the cliché genre, a career-obsessed high-flyer with no room in her diary for a romantic relationship. But instead of pairing her with an opposite number, “Office Romance” has the subtle idea of pairing two tightly buttoned professionals and gradually making them make time for each other. Daniel, a modest Englishman who moved to America due to complicated family circumstances, still struggles with Americans’ seriousness and oversharing, and is usually unlikely to violate his company’s strict ban on office romances. But when he is drafted to represent Jackie in a high-stakes legal dispute with a rival airline, he is caught off guard by how much they like each other. And even if it doesn’t make sense on paper, we’re not all that surprised because they’re all likable as individuals.
From there, everything progresses according to the rom-com script, with third-act obstacles and reconciliations, adding in and out of strange tones to the script. The film is guided by the smoothly unpretentious, lavishly star-focused approach that Parker brought to Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again and the George Clooney and Julia Roberts vehicle Ticket to Paradise, making it a fitting conclusion to the story’s paean to maintaining professionalism with a human touch.
But the welcome sour shot comes from rare supporting actress Betty Gilpin, who plays Jackie’s hawk-eyed, pregnant lieutenant Sidney. This character opposes any budding romance with fierce and irrational hostility. Spitting lines like needles and lighting up entire scenes with a consistently focused intensity, she imbues the role of Stock’s best friend with such specific, venomous heat that you wonder what kind of twisted, electric love story this might have been with her counterpart, either lead. Playful, in-depth, and memorably weird, “Office Romance” ultimately gives people what they want. But if there’s a gap in the market for a rom-com with uncomfortable viewing, we know who to cast.
