Linda Mendoza's Relationship Goals is one of those films that makes you wonder, "Why did it involve the contribution of three writers when it feels like it was written by no one in particular?" Something like Relationship Goals is less written than borrowed. It's a copy of a copy of a copy—uninspired stuff.
One can, at first, muster some enthusiasm at the fact that the lead character, a woman named Leah Caldwell (Kelly Rowland), wants to become the first woman to run New York's top morning show (she works at Media Core). Professional ambition? Why, we need more such women, both onscreen and off. However, I found it quite offensive that Leah isn't shown to be fulfilled even after being promoted to the title of showrunner. She still feels empty, and the reason is that she needs a man. She needs Jarrett Roy (Cliff "Method Man" Smith).
I have nothing against people falling in love with each other, but Leah and Jarrett have no spark, no inner life, no real chemistry. They are assembled from the discarded parts of other romances. Leah and Jarrett have a history purely because that's what the genre requires. And what history is that? Just that Jarrett cheated on Leah with another woman. What led him to take this step? Was he unhappy with Leah in any way? Was it a one-night stand? The movie simply suggests that Jarrett was immature. The affair, alas, is an excuse for the characters to bicker. This is why nothing else from the past is discussed in detail in the present.
Leah has two best friends, Treese Moore (Annie Gonzalez) and Brenda Phelps (Robin Thede). The former struggles to find a boyfriend, while the latter is stuck with a man (DeVaughn Nixon) who has no plans for marriage. Treese, at one point, takes Ronald (Ryan Jamaal Swain), a secretary, to her family and introduces him as her boyfriend. Why? Because she doesn't want them to judge her based on her relationship status. Well, it turns out that it's Treese who judges herself based on her relationship status. It's the kind of realization the movie rushes through in seconds. After all, it needs to move quickly; it only has 93 minutes.
Did I mention that Leah's mother is dead and that the movie somehow tries to connect her emotional void to grief—or something like it? It tries, all right, but obviously never succeeds, considering the point is merely touched upon with a disposable line and a disposable scene at a graveyard near the end. Ask Mendoza, and she will probably say, "I am not trying to win an Oscar here." But should that excuse the fact that Relationship Goals looks so basic, so meh?
The bigger question one must ask, though, is this: why take inspiration from Pastor Michael Todd's book, Relationship Goals: How to Win at Dating, Marriage, and Sex? One assumes Mendoza found something useful there. If she learned any lesson and was trying to put it across through this project, she definitely failed. If the moral in the end is that you have to find the right man to be happy, I don't see why anyone couldn't learn that lesson from millions of other (good) rom-coms like When Harry Met Sally, Notting Hill, Bridget Jones's Diary, or Never Been Kissed. Even there, the characters ultimately end up with the right person.
I guess the real intention behind making Relationship Goals is to promote Todd and his novel. The movie acknowledges this and tries to steer itself away from the accusation during an interview with Todd, where Leah herself notes that it's all turning into a fluffy, congratulatory segment. And perhaps by dipping into half-baked clichés, the film does try to separate itself from being pure promotional material (I have not read the source material). Nonetheless, the main issue remains: Relationship Goals is bad.
At times, it shows a flicker of life, thanks to the actors, who dance across the screen as if they are genuinely having a good time. In fact, the way Rowland's Leah raises her left eyebrow when Ronald mentions he wants bagels is more expressive, more fun, more dramatic than anything else she's given to do or say. Given how uninteresting this whole affair is, I can confidently say the filmmakers don't need to focus on relationship goals. Leave that. "Good filmmaking" is the only goal they should have.
Try reading this novel: Filmmaking Goals: How to Win at Story, Characters, and Stakes.
Final Score- [3/10]
Reviewed by - Vikas Yadav
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Publisher at Midgard Times