by Jake Bourgeois, Contributing Writer
Look, Zoey Deutch made Set it Up, so for me, she’s already Netflix rom-com royalty. It’s probably the genre entry I’ve watched the most over the last decade or so. Which means, when she’s back on the streamer with another romantic comedy, I’m going to check it out.
Voicemails for Isabelle follows a young chef (Deutch) stuck at a dead-end job at a high-end restaurant, who leaves voicemails for her late sister as a coping mechanism, not knowing that they are getting redirected to a stranger (Nick Robinson). By hearing that synopsis, I guarantee you can basically figure out exactly how this is going to go. However, this movie has a superpower, and that is Deutch’s magnetism. That means as we watch her wade through a comically unaware set of suitors, we really want things to turn around for her. It’s fun watching her leave some absolutely unhinged voicemails. The manic energy she brings boosts the overall experience.
Robinson, by comparison, brings less to the proceedings as a real estate agent doing some shady stuff. It’s all very You’ve Got Mail in a, “Should we be rooting for this guy?” kind of way (a thought I had already written down before the movie itself brings it up), but I don’t think it’s rocket science that it made the character a bit hard to root for. Robinson is a sold actor, he’s just not Tom Hanks (oh, look, the movie just made that point for us, too). The result is it leaves us with questions like, what does he really do to differentiate from the other guys we see her with at the beginning; besides the fact he’s one of our leads and we’re supposed to be rooting for this relationship? I mean, they even namedrop Meg Ryan. It’s not like they don’t know exactly what they’re doing with the character. You don’t get dispensation for pointing out the sin you’re committing.
Okay, so I don’t fully buy into the main relationship, but there is one male performance that helps make the movie. Nick Offerman chews ALL the scenery as Deutch’s stereotypical overbearing, dictatorial chef boss and I loved every minute of it. He must have had a blast for the day or two that probably took to film, and it’s legitimately one of my favorite performances of the year so far. Well, at least one of the performances with which I had the most fun.
Aside from the main performances, Voicemails for Isabelle plays the hits, though it plays them well enough for you to enjoy the formula. Leah McKendrick in the director’s chair knows what she’s doing, which means you’re getting some quality on the screen when it comes to the technical side. And, in classic rom-com style, the needle drops come to play, the film puts together quite an impressive soundtrack of well-known hits, but not to the point that they’re distracting.
All in all, it’s very standard as rom coms go. Not standard with, “Oh that’s a deep theme I can really dig into.” No, just bog standard. So, if that’s going to bother you, stay away. You’re not missing anything you’re going to regret leaving this one unwatched by the end of the year. I, however, was in a mood where I recognized it, accepted it, topped off my drink, and had an enjoyable enough time.
If you think you might be able to do that too, Voicemails for Isabelle is worth opening up on your Netflix feed.
Rating: Liked It
Voicemails for Isabelle is currently available to stream on Netflix.
You can read more from Jake Bourgeois, and follow him on Bluesky and Letterboxd