Someone Great is a 2019 American romantic comedy film written and directed by Jennifer Kaytin Robinson (in her directorial debut). The film stars Gina Rodriguez, Brittany Snow, DeWanda Wise, Lakeith Stanfield, and Peter Vack.
| Someone Great | |
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 Official release poster | |
| Directed by | Jennifer Kaytin Robinson |
| Written by | Jennifer Kaytin Robinson |
| Produced by |
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| Starring |
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| Cinematography | Autumn Eakin |
| Edited by |
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| Music by | Germaine Franco |
Production companies |
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| Distributed by | Netflix |
Release date |
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Running time | 92 minutes[1] |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Rodriguez plays a music journalist who decides to go on a last hurrah with her two best friends after her boyfriend dumps her right before she is due to leave New York to take her dream job on the west coast.
It was released by Netflix on April 19, 2019.
Plot
editJenny, a music journalist living in New York City, lands her dream job with Rolling Stone in San Francisco. Her boyfriend of nine years, Nate, breaks up with her, and she spirals into a depression.
Jenny's best friends, Erin, a real estate agent afraid to admit her feelings to her girlfriend, Leah, and Blair, a social media manager who needs to break up with her boyfriend, Will, with whom she has lost chemistry, are the only ones who can bring her out of her funk. Jenny contacts Erin and Blair after learning the concert series known as Neon Classic is putting on a pop-up show at Sony Hall and proposes one last adventure together before she moves, both to celebrate a new chapter in her life and to mend her broken heart.
The girls meet up by taking a day off from work. Throughout the day, they find it difficult to secure tickets for the concert, eventually obtaining them through Jenny's former college crush, Matt, with whom Blair has sex. Erin and Jenny run into Leah, and Erin clearly has some unresolved issues stemming from her fear of commitment.
Blair breaks up with Will after finding him cleaning her apartment without her, and it ends amicably. The girls all go to the concert in the evening and Jenny runs into Nate, but cannot bring herself to talk to him, and gets separated from her friends. Matt takes her to the after-party where she realizes she needs closure.
After a heart-to-heart where Erin admits she needs to grow up and Blair admits that she needs to lower her own expectations, they go to find Jenny at the after-party, but not before Erin meets up with Leah and they acknowledge their feelings for each other and agree to take their relationship slow.
They discover that Jenny is no longer at the after-party and are initially confused when they are told that she left to "finish it", referring to the relationship. Erin realizes that Jenny went to Washington Square Park, where her relationship with Nate began. Jenny is found sitting on the side of the fountain where nine years prior he had written their initials and a smiley face inscribed within a heart.
Initially it seems that Nate came to apologize and ask to take her back, but this is proven to be a dream that Jenny had after she passed out. Blair and Erin come to find her and the three walk off together, promising that their friendship will stay strong even after Jenny leaves for San Francisco.
Cast
edit
- Gina Rodriguez as Jenny Young
- Brittany Snow as Blair Helms
- DeWanda Wise as Erin Kennedy
- LaKeith Stanfield as Nate Davis
- Peter Vack as Matt Lasher
- Rebecca Naomi Jones as Leah
- Alex Moffat as Will
- RuPaul Charles as Hype
- Rosario Dawson as Hannah Davis
- Michelle Buteau as Cynthia
- Jaboukie Young-White as Mikey
- Ben Sidell as Gus
- Joe Locicero as Paul
- Questlove as himself
- Jessie Reyez as herself
Production
editIn February 2018, Gina Rodriguez signed on to star in and produce a film to serve as the directorial debut of Jennifer Kaytin Robinson from a screenplay she wrote. The story was described as being about loss, growing up and, above all, the everlasting bond of female friendships.[3] In March 2018, Brittany Snow and DeWanda Wise were cast to portray the close friends of Rodriguez's character, while Lakeith Stanfield also joined the cast to portray the ex-boyfriend of Rodriguez's character.[4][5][6] In April 2018, Rosario Dawson joined the cast of the film. Principal photography on the film began on April 2, 2018,[5] and wrapped on May 15.[7]
Inspiration
edit1989, the fifth studio album by American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift, especially the track "Clean", was cited as the inspiration for Someone Great. The film, in turn, inspired Swift to write "Death by a Thousand Cuts", the tenth track on her seventh studio album Lover (2019).[8] Robinson has also cited New Zealand singer Lorde's 2017 song "Supercut" as an inspiration for the film; "[Supercut] existed in the movie before any of the people in the movie existed"—she stated in an interview with Rolling Stone.[9]
Release
editThe film was released on April 19, 2019[10] only to Netflix as a Netflix Original.
Critical response
editOn the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 83% of 52 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7/10. The website's consensus reads: "What Someone Great lacks in originality it makes up for in relatability and charm, thanks in large part to the undeniable chemistry between its talented leads."[11] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 63 out of 100, based on 16 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.[12]
Soundtrack
editAfter the release of the film, the song "Truth Hurts" by Lizzo, which Erin and a pantsless Jenny sung and danced to in the film's beginning, debuted at number 50 on the Billboard Hot 100,[13] later peaking at number 1.[14]
References
edit- ^ "Someone great". British Board of Film Classification. Retrieved April 26, 2019.
- ^ The Someone Great Cast Play Our Real Or Fake Cocktail Game | MTV Movies, 18 April 2019, retrieved 2023-06-09
- ^ Kit, Borys (February 26, 2018). "Gina Rodriguez to Star In, Produce Netflix Romantic Comedy 'Someone Great' (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved February 26, 2018.
- ^ Kit, Borys (March 27, 2018). "Brittany Snow Joining Gina Rodriguez in Romantic Comedy 'Someone Great' (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved April 3, 2018.
- ^ a b "DeWanda Wise in Talks to Join Gina Rodriguez, Brittany Snow in Netflix ROM-COM 'Something Great'". The Tracking Board. March 27, 2018. Retrieved April 3, 2018.
- ^ Galuppo, Mia (March 30, 2018). "Lakeith Stanfield in Talks to Join Gina Rodriguez in Rom-Com 'Someone Great'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved April 3, 2018.
- ^ Robinson, Jennifer Kaytin [@jennkaytin] (May 15, 2018). "Today is the last day of shooting on #SomeoneGreat. There aren't enough words or feelings to properly sum up how singular and special this experience has been. To my sisters @hereisgina @dewandawise @brittanysnow, we fuckin did that. I can't wait for people to see this movie. 📸 by the OG @maryellenmatthewsnyc". Retrieved May 15, 2018 – via Instagram.
- ^ Hughes, Hilary (August 25, 2019). "Taylor Swift Calls Rom-Com Inspiration Behind 'Lover' Song the 'Most Meta Thing That's Ever Happened to Me'". Billboard. Retrieved August 27, 2019.
- ^ "Netflix's 'Someone Great' Is Inspired By The Director's Love Of Lorde's "Supercut"". Genius. Retrieved 2020-01-18.
- ^ Sneider, Jeff (January 28, 2019). "Not sure if these Netflix release dates are new, but here goes nothing! Brie Larson's UNICORN STORE coming sometime in April, while @HereIsGina's rom-com SOMEONE GREAT will debut on April 19. We'll also get Amy Poehler's comedy WINE COUNTRY on May 10. Drink up, baby!". Twitter. Retrieved January 28, 2019.
- ^ "Someone Great". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved April 5, 2024.
- ^ "Someone Great". Metacritic. Fandom, Inc. Retrieved April 5, 2024.
- ^ "Lizzo Scores First Billboard Hot 100 Entry With 'Truth Hurts'". Billboard. May 13, 2019. Retrieved August 27, 2019.
- ^ "Lizzo Chart History". Billboard. Retrieved August 27, 2019.
