Juliet, Naked is the type of romantic comedy that gets buried at the end of the summer because it’s the type of romantic comedy that deserves to get buried at the end of the summer. That may seem harsh for a generally pleasant and inoffensive film, but is pleasant enough?
No, no it’s not.
Directed by Jesse Peretz, who has done a lot of TV work but whose last major film production was the Paul Rudd-starring Our Idiot Brother, this movie, which stars Rose Byrne, Ethan Hawke and everyone’s favorite mopey Irishman Chris O’Dowd, is about a woman who falls in love with her boyfriend’s favorite musician, who hasn’t been seen or heard from in decades.
It’s a cute set up, but the delivery is so lowkey it’s hard to stay interested in anything that’s going on despite solid performances by the cast.
Juliet, Naked falls into the trap that so many movies like this fall into, unclear whether it wants to be funny or dramatic or both to the degree that it is none of those things. There are a few humorous moments—the scene where the boyfriend (O’Dowd) finally meets his fanboy crush (Hawke) is pretty entertaining—and the drama feels real and inconsequential, though does anyone go to the movies to watch inconsequential drama?
And if you’re wondering, there isn’t a lot of romance either, unless you count the off-scene sex scene that is interrupted after a child throws up on a couch. Byrne and Hawke have decent chemistry, but it’s so understated the movie will end before you notice.
Juliet, Naked just starts, happens and then ends, and you sort of shrug your shoulders and say, “Well, that started, happened and ended,” and unlike me who has to write this movie review late at night because I put off watching this film until the 11th Hour because I sort of knew that this movie would be what it ended up being, you’ll probably forget about it by the time you’ve walked out of the theater or hit the stop button on your remote.
There’s nothing wrong with Juliet, Naked except there isn’t anything right about it, or at least there isn’t anything to extract from it. It just exists, Byrne is pretty good I guess, and let’s just call this movie review over.
Review by Erik Samdahl unless otherwise indicated.