“Someone Great,” a female friendship raunch-com starring Gina Rodriguez, is a remarkable addition to its genre — and not just because of its subversive gender representation. This film, almost as dense with jokes as it is with drinking and drug use, is definitive proof that Rodriguez has comedy-movie-star chops. It is also a winsome debut from “Sweet/Vicious” (R.I.P.) creator Jennifer Kaytin Robinson. But while this guffaw-inducing gem of a film likely would not exist without distributor Netflix, who gave Robinson authorial free reign as writer/director, its online-only release is perhaps its greatest foible.
The film follows Jenny (Rodriguez), an emotional and vibrant film journalist who just landed her dream job at Rolling Stone. Unfortunately, the gig will move her from New York to San Francisco, and her longtime boyfriend Nate (Lakeith Stanfield) decides he can’t handle the distance. In the throes of breakup grief, Jenny enlists her best friends Blair (Brittany Snow) and Erin (DeWanda Wise) to skive off from work, score good drugs, and accompany her to the Neon Classic — a fictional music festival which, according to this film, is very fun and important.
Along the way, each of the women is forced to confront a major romantic hangup in her life. Lackadaisical Erin must confront her commitment issues when faced with the overwhelming charm of her not-girlfriend, Leah (an effervescent Rebecca Naomi Jones). Blair, a stuck-up social media strategist, must learn how to settle for a greasy dude with a widespread reputation as an asshole. Jenny, of course, relives her greatest and worst hits with Nate in vivid detail, from first “I love you” to final breakdown. The conclusions these women arrive at are ultimately unsurprising, but this film doesn’t exist to shock or surprise. Instead, much like its actors, it’s funny, touching, and charming enough to exist on its own merit, no narrative frills required. Its otherwise predictable story is executed beautifully, from a devastating digital exposition (à la “Searching”) to some gut-wrenching millennial music choices. (Trigger warning for the use of Mitski’s “Your Best American Girl,” the break-up song to end a thousand break-up songs, in a particularly well-acted and crushing Rodriguez/Stanfield scene.)
Yet despite its whip-smart script and pitch-perfect performances, “Someone Great” has something onerous hanging over it: its relegation to the small screens of Netflix. Despite being a bastion of creative freedom, Netflix isn’t in the business of blockbusters, it’s in the business of virality — an altogether more slippery phenomenon. At the end of the day, “Someone Great” is yet another standout addition to the exponentially unwieldy Netflix canon, where fantastic original films become flashes in pans and festival darlings go to die. Even if this film makes a splash today, we’ll be talking about something else tomorrow. I know this because it already happened with a Netflix original, female-led, drug-and-music-festival-centric comedy called “Ibiza,” which, despite ample marketing from Netflix, you probably don’t even remember debuting last year. If you’ll allow me to finally play the gender card, this is a disservice to female audiences who have been craving this kind of finely-crafted, debaucherous touchstone since “Bridesmaids” ignited this fire eight years ago. Since then, female audiences haven’t had much to hang onto except for “Girls Trip” in 2017. Meanwhile, major distributors funnel bro comedies into American theaters like beer down a frat pledge’s gullet. We can do better than this.
Each of the women leading this film is stunning in her comedic timing. The script is such that its men, rather than stealing scenes, bolster the leads’ performances. Save for an overdependence on neon lighting, a general misunderstanding of how entertainment journalism works, and perhaps more alcohol consumption than is responsible for a film sure to be watched by teen girls and young women, “Someone Great” is a heartfelt and hilarious first feature with ample female talent. It’s a shame we’ll all have forgotten it by June. [A-]
