Office Romance Review: What It Says on the Tin

Ol Parker’s Office Romance is funny enough, romantic enough and breezy enough to work as a satisfying example of the genre.

Jennifer Lopez (Kiss of the Spider Woman) and Brett Goldstein (Ted Lasso), who also co-wrote the script with Joe Kelly, star in a film that doesn’t do anything to revolutionise the genre, but considering romantic comedies are supposed to be comfy and familiar, this shouldn’t be a problem with most audiences.

Lopez plays Jackie Cruz, CEO of Cruz Airlines, which she inherited from her father, “Captain” Jack Cruz (the great Edward James Olmos, of Blade Runner), and she is now running it as efficiently as possible. So much so, that most of her staff is terrified of her; her assistant, the pregnant Sydney (Betty Gilpin, of The Tomorrow War), has turned into a ridiculous workaholic, and her board, led by Francisco Alberto (Tony “Ugly Betty’s Dad” Plana), actually wants her out. This is all further complicated by the fact that William Butten (Roger Bart, of tick, tick… BOOM!), the CEO of her competition, is suing her, since he wants to take over her gates at the Dallas Airport.

Enter British lawyer Daniel Blanchflower (Goldstein), who takes over the aforementioned case after his boss, ruthless attorney Peter Vance (Bradley Whitford, of Reminders of Him), chokes on a breakfast burrito. And the moment he meets Jackie for the first time, he gets smitten. Gradually, as they work together, Jackie and Daniel start to realise they like each other, and that maybe they could have something together. In fact, they end up having sex during a work trip in the Dominican Republic! But there’s a problem: office romances are prohibited by the airline’s human resources department, led by George Dudek (Tony Hale, of Toy Story 5). And what’s worse: if anybody finds out they’ve been intimate, it could serve as an excuse for the board to expel her and for the competition to intimidate her.

Office Romance’s plot is nothing to write home about, but honestly, that was to be expected. The film is proud of being a classic romantic comedy (albeit one with plenty of cursing and some raunchy scenes), meaning it’s got all the clichés and narrative elements one should expect from a new example of the genre: an intense romance, a best friend who opposes said romance, misunderstandings, a last-minute chase to make things right (though, refreshingly, Daniel doesn’t have to run to an airport, but to a press conference), and more. It all feels familiar and maybe a bit too predictable, but it’s fun and cosy and frankly it would’ve felt right at home in cinemas fifteen or twenty years ago.

This is the Year of Our Lord 2026, though, meaning Office Romance is a direct-to-Netflix flick, which allows it to be a bit ruder than the average romantic comedy. There’s a rather hilarious scene in which Daniel tries to explain to George that, for Brits, the “C-Word” isn’t as offensive as it is for Americans. There’s plenty of frank discussion about sex, and of course, there’s the explicit birthing scene, in which we get to see, albeit for a couple of very brief shots, a baby exiting from their mother’s body. It’s shocking and unexpected, which more or less compensates for the fact that the situation itself is pretty unbelievable.

What about the romance, though? I wouldn’t say that J-Lo and Goldstein’s chemistry sets the screen on fire, but it’s believable enough for their intense romance to work. The scene in which Daniel first meets Jackie, for example, is quite funny, as it starts with him seeing her as an angel, with golden light emanating from the window behind her. There’s also a “boner situation” and a lot of awkward conversations, making it clear that they’re both interested in each other from the start. Sex scenes are few and far between and not explicit at all, but the complications that arise from the secretiveness of their relationship are fun enough, even if, from what I’ve read, everything related to the lawsuits and Daniel’s work in general at the airline is ridiculously inaccurate.

Moreover, secondary characters are unexpectedly memorable, and well, I always appreciate it when a comedy makes the effort not only to build interesting protagonists, but fun co-workers and best friends too. Betty Gilpin is the standout as Sydney, who, despite being pregnant, is such a workaholic that she refuses to go home until she gives birth. She’s intense, she’s appropriately over-the-top, and she’s fun. Bradley Whitford goes full ham as crazy lawyer Peter Vance; Jodie Whittaker (of Doctor Who fame) appears in a couple of scenes as Lizzy, Daniel’s criminal sister, and Amy Sedaris (The Mandalorian) has a small but vital role as Julie Schatz, a private investigator hired by Butten to find dirt on Jackie.

If you’ve seen pretty much any romantic comedy, you’ll know what to expect from Office Romance. The narrative is predictable, some of the changes in tone can be a bit weird (the birthing scene is a good example, even if I do admire its inclusion in isolation), and the movie as a whole is a bit on the long side. Almost two hours isn’t terrible, but it would’ve felt leaner and more energetic at ninety minutes. Despite its flaws, though, I couldn’t help having fun. I rooted for Daniel and Jackie’s romance and the overall message of empowerment, standing up for oneself, and real love, although a bit trite, is perfect for this sort of thing. Office Romance might sound more like a website tag than an actual title, but fortunately, the end product is better than its name would suggest.

Office Romance is now available to stream globally on Netflix.