"Watching, or rather enduring, Amazon-MGM's charmless new romantic comedy Maintenance Required, I was so convinced it was an officially sanctioned re-imagining of You've Got Mail that I scoured the credits for confirmation. Surely, even in this cursed AI era of copyright erosion, no one would so shamelessly regurgitate the beats of that much-adored film without giving the requisite credit? But try as I might,"
"In a film that will hopefully be used as evidence in an upcoming lawsuit, a woman tries to keep her struggling local business alive as a big brand competitor opens over the street while she secretly chats to a man online who just so happens to be her business rival. Scene where he tells her to fight for what's hers which leads her to a TV appearance? Check. Scene where he finds out who she really is as she waits for their first in-person date?"
Maintenance Required is a derivative romantic comedy that mirrors You've Got Mail's premise while failing to deliver charm or humanity. A woman struggles to keep her local mechanic shop afloat as a big-brand competitor opens across the street while she privately chats online with a man who turns out to be her rival. The film hits familiar beats — encouragement to fight leading to a TV appearance, discovery of a secret identity before an in-person date, and a betrayal-tinged confrontation — but the updates (mechanics instead of bookstores, Reddit instead of AOL) underline an ill-suited, unromantic modernization. Performances and writing never produce winning chemistry, wit, or a satisfying finale.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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