There’s something inherently material about the love triangle amongst Chris Evans, Dakota Johnson and Pedro Pascal in Materialists. They are delicious. Except for often times the character portrayed by Johnson, a successful New York City matchmaker whose own personal life is in shambles. She basically considers herself an eternal bachelorette.
It seems Dakota’s Lucy cares more about her client’s personal happiness than her own. And she does take the job very seriously, making herself available pretty much 24/7. Her firm is called Adore and it seems like the boss and the other employees really adore her as she continues to rack up client marriages on her resume.
Of course there are also bad dates and there are also very demanding clients. That’s where a lot of the humor of this film comes in, when you hear these successful professionals – both men and women – pretty much asking for the moon when it’s comes to a partner. “I’m a catch,” states one woman who by looking at her and listening to her clearly is not. Sometimes Lucy sets them straight, often to comic effect, Other times, she placates them.
The story shifts when one of those clients, who happens to be the brother of the groom of one of her latest marriage success stories, becomes interested in Lucy. It’s Pascal as Harry, a hedge fund dude who has it all going on. He knows all the right restaurants to take her to, all the right things to order and all the right things to say.
Because Lucy has already proclaimed that she wants to be with someone rich, there seems to be a good deal of potential in this match, especially after she sets eyes on his fairly palatial New York City apartment.
That abode is in sharp contrast to where a struggling theater actor and cater waiter named John, convincingly played by Evans, lives with a couple of roommates. Yes, these guys are in their late 30s but they’re still acting like they’re in a college dorm. More comedy ensues over toothbrushes, used condoms and cell phone chargers.
We find out that John and Lucy were boyfriend and girlfriend for five years, apparently in the not so distant past. In a vivid flashback to a fight over parking lot fees on their way to dinner in Manhattan, we see that their relationship broke up because of a lack of money.
Yet John reenters Lucy’s picture just when she starting to get hot and heavy with Harry. Yet nothing’s changed for him, so it’s a bit hard to believe the next twist the story takes.
It’s also hard to believe the story is set in New York City. It just doesn’t have that energetic feel. It could just as well be Des Moines.
There are also a couple of scratch-your-head scenes, one involving male surgery to be taller and the other about the followup with a woman who’s assaulted on an Adore set-up date.
This is Celine Song’s second film after 2023’s acclaimed Past Lives, also centering on a love triangle. That one was Oscar-nominated for best picture and best screenplay. It’s doubtful that Materialists will see similar accolades.
