The Kissing Booth (2018)
Directed by Vince Marcello
When teenager Elle's first kiss leads to a forbidden romance with the hottest boy in high school, she risks her relationship with her best friend.
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What critics compared The Kissing Booth to
What surrounds those scenes already steals so much from “The Breakfast Club” and assorted Ringwald-era comedies, including covers of the same iconic songs heard of the soundtracks of those films, that this stumbling homage doesn’t need more.
I was genuinely surprised that Netflix would even green light a Tall Girl sequel but in the age of streaming wars, this seems like a play to be Netflix’s next series, shooting into the vein of The Kissing Booth movies.
And “The Kissing Booth” movies and other teen rom-coms that Netflix has all but cornered the market on.
I have serious questions for anyone who prefers, say, The Kissing Booth over this, which is the same sort of uplifting young-love-conquers-all affair but without the crackling chemistry, smart writing (Katie Lovejoy did the screenplays alongside Han), and absurdly likable performances that have always made the romantic travails of Lara Jean Song Covey (Condor) and Peter Kavinsky (Centineo) stand out from the crowd.
Someone Great is not quite as notable as the biggest films in Netflix’s 2018 romantic comedy renaissance—the lovers’ romp of Set It Up , or the horny fantasy of The Kissing Booth.
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“To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before” and basically anything starring Joey King (“The Kissing Booth,” “Summer ’03”) had naughty wit and “They grow up so FAST” sexual overtones that proved catnip to kids out of school for the summer.
It’s the latest rom-com for teens to grace the platform, following the hit To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before and The Kissing Booth, and that’s not to mention shows like 13 Reasons Why , Sex Education , and The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina.
All in all, Hello, Goodbye, and Everything In Between falls in the middle of the pack of the NYAU; it’s not as fun or cute as the first To All the Boys I Loved Before , but it’s also not as dumb as The Kissing Booth trilogy.
Setting Persuasion as a mischievous, or worse, farcical rom-com for those who adore The Kissing Booth is an insult not just to Austenites but to anyone who appreciates a good romance.
Unfortunately, this one cannot hold a candle to the greats like Set It Up or The Kissing Booth movies.
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If this were a Netflix release (why it wasn’t, when it shares a producer with the streamer’s own “To All the Boys I Loved Before” and “The Kissing Booth'' plus one of the principals is a lead from “Stranger Things,” is beyond me) there would at least be some awareness.
Movies like “The Kissing Booth” and “Murder Mystery,” which wouldn’t (and couldn’t) find success in theaters, are now easily becoming the most-watched of Netflix’s original slate.