Money makes love go down easy. That’s the kind of acknowledgment you seldom come by in a rom-com. So does “a good height”. Now, that’s the real icing on the cake by writer-director Celine Song, who seems to be going for a harsh (though in warm hues), clinical view of matchmaking in the world of dating apps and old, unwed singles, but succumbs midway to stars in her eyes – and those in her cast.
If her wistful and much-lauded Past Lives was about old romances and new lives, Materialists ends up being a film about never-too-old romances and did-you-really-think-new lives.
Lucy (Johnson) is a matchmaker working in an upscale firm staffed entirely by overexcited, young women, who throw a party when Lucy’s “razor-sharp instinct” and “eagle eye for chemistry” help her guide her ninth couple to the altar. Johnson is a striking presence and when her tall, lithe self sashays down New York streets, her ponytail bouncing – let alone when she takes the chair opposite you to suggest prospective dates – it’s easy to see why she can’t be denied.
Harry (Pascal), who runs into her at his brother’s wedding that Lucy has mediated, can’t deny her either. He is what they in her firm dub the ‘Unicorn’ – born into wealth, still rich, dresses well and, importantly, is a shade taller than that golden 6 feet mark. Lucy insists she, born poor and climbing her way up, is not for him. However, there is really no doubt that this meeting will end under satin sheets in Harry’s $15 million penthouse. Yes, $15 million because Lucy asks, and Harry replies.
It’s refreshing, at least, to see Lucy be honest (as many of us are) about blessings that are purely materialistic.
But Lucy’s conscience keeper, or rather a reminder of her old life (as there always is), is ex-boyfriend John (Evans). In his late 30s, he is a struggling actor who still shares a flat with three, untidy roommates and works as a waiter for a catering firm to make ends meet.
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On any given day, one would be a fool to turn down Captain America, but really you don’t grudge Lucy for the choice she made, dumping John on their fifth dating anniversary because he kept cribbing about $20 for a parking slot. A glimpse of his sorry acting career only strengthens that impression.
However, there are no surprises how the chips fall into place in the film, which is bookended by two weddings and at both of which our ex-lovers happen to be at. A sordid episode involving an assault on a date organised by Lucy is dealt with cursorily and swept under the carpet.
There are many times in the film where Song, who herself worked for a while as a matchmaker, appears to have something important to say.
About the transactional nature of modern romance, about the fast-evaporating options for women even in their late 20s, about the fear of ending up alone in a world where you are bombarded with images of happiness (we are all looking for nursing home partners and grave buddies, she says), about the realities of the matchmaking market where physical and material assets are boxes to be ticked off, about the racism and classism that shows up in demands of perfectly regular people.
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Song doesn’t shy away from the M (money) word most of all, with Lucy recognising that need in her to find someone “mindnumbingly, achingly rich”.
However, Lucy must “hate” herself for it, something she repeats more than once, and she must question her professional cliches about perfect partners that she has been spouting before the curtains come down.
All the more reason for two people who are meant to be together in films of this kind – that is, tall, goodlooking, never wrinkly, never too poorly – to end up together.
Materialists movie cast: Dakota Johnson, Chris Evans, Pedro Pascal, Zoe Winters
Materialists movie director: Celine Song
Materialists movie rating: 2.5 stars
