Pop Culture Happy Hour - Office Romance

Episode Date: June 9, 2026

The new Netflix film Office Romance pairs rom-com veteran Jennifer Lopez with Brett Goldstein in a story about the hazards of falling for your boss. But is the on-screen chemistry there? And how does it fit into J.Lo’s rom-com history? Directed by Ol Parker (Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again), the film was written by Goldstein and Joe Kelly, one of the writers he worked with on Ted Lasso.If you need another Jennifer Lopez fix, check out these episodes:Can Jennifer Lopez's 'This Is Me... Now' say anything new?A silly 'Shotgun Wedding' sends J.Lo on an adventureConnect with Pop Culture Happy Hour:Letterboxd / FacebookOur weekly newsletterSupport Pop Culture Happy Hour+See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

Romantic comedies often live and die by the charisma of their leads. The new Netflix film Office Romance pairs rom-com veteran Jennifer Lopez with relative newbie Brett Goldstein in a story about the hazards of falling for your boss. The movie is jam-packed with MVP's in the supporting cast and it's a little raunchier than your average film of its kind. And we're going to get into whether it works, how it fits into J-Lo's rom-com history and what, if anything, it's trying to say about relations. at work. I'm Linda Holmes, joining me on NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour. Today is my co-host, Aisha Harris. Hello, Aisha. Hello, Linda. Also with us is the host of NPR's. It's been a minute. Brittany loose. Hello, Brittany loose. Hello. It is so good to see you both. Office romance stars Jennifer Lopez as Jackie Cruz,

the CEO of an airline. When the company gets embroiled in a lawsuit, she meets Daniel, a lawyer who's just joined the airline. They have instant chemistry, but because she's the CEO and the company has a zero tolerance policy for office relationships. They both try to put it aside. But naturally, not for long. And romantic comedy complications follow. The film was directed by O'L Parker, who previously directed both Mamma Mia Here We Go Again and the similarly old school rom-com ticket to Paradise, which I will point out all three of us discussed together on this show. Wait, really? In 2022, yes. Yes. Oh, I completely forgot. I mean, I mean, I remember the movie. I love it.

This is the old Parker gang back together again. Yay. Office Romance was written by Goldstein and Joe Kelly, one of the writers he worked with on Ted Lasso, and it is streaming now on Netflix. Brittany, I'm going to start with you as a veteran of watching, as I understand it, many J-Lo rom-coms and many other rom-coms. How did you feel about office romance? I enjoyed office romance. I mean, I'll say this.

I think that if you are looking for... for like, I recently rewatch something's got to give. If you're looking for something on that level, when Harry met Sally, look someplace sells. You should probably go seek out those films. Okay. But a Jennifer Lopez rom-com with Brett Colstein, which is, there's just enough intrigue there and the difference kind of in their personas.

Also, the fact that this film is born of his, like, I think, obsession with Jennifer Lopez and her rom-com over, listen, I got my money's worth. Jennifer Lopez, Brett Goldstein, I had a blast. Were there some moments where I was like, what the heck is going on? Absolutely. Is there a medical procedure that happens on screen that completely caught me off guard? Yes. Absolutely.

Did it remind me of the baby from Allie McBeal that was dancing around? Yes, it did. However, I'm sorry, I was charmed by this. I had a blast. I really enjoyed myself. I was telling you all before we started recording that I kind of judged. a lot of J-Lo's sort of like modern-day rom-coms by like how do they compare to second act a movie from 2018.

So that's like the median and there's like, is it in the top half? Yeah, that felt like to me like something that kind of marked the sort of like second half of her rom-com career where she was kind of doing maybe these movies that were not quite as big as the ones from her past, like from her, I guess what some people might call Jay-Lo's Golden Era. And so I kind of am like, is this better or worse than second act? A movie that I also admittedly kind of enjoyed for what it was. And I feel like this was a bit better.

So I'm overall thumbs up on office romance. Brittany is overall thumbs up. Aisha, how about you? How did you feel about office romance? Oh, I don't know, man. This is kind of hard for me to watch. And I don't think I've seen every single J-Lo rom-com, but I've seen the, the big hits. I've seen the maiden Manhattan. I've seen the wedding planner. I've seen second act.

I've seen her more recent stuff. And I have to say, it made me realize why I don't find myself returning to J.Lo's rom-coms in the way that I do to her other performances and other movies, which is that, look, she is a very beautiful, sexy woman. That is undeniable. She looks fantastic. I get why anyone would be attracted to her. In terms of her ability to actually move beyond that with any sort of romantic co-star, on-screen, or arguably off-screen, too, I don't think she has it. I don't think she has chemistry with the men that she is up against, with the sole exception of out of sight. Look, her and George Clooney, the heat, it's there. That's also probably the best script she's ever worked with.

And so you have that. and then you have J-Lo and George Clooney stuck in a car truck. Like that is hot. Yes. But every other time I've seen her, especially in a rom-com form, it's just not there. And she can be a very dynamic performer. Hustlers, she's great, but that's not a rom-com, right? Like, she is in her element there.

I don't see any chemistry here with Brett Goldstein. Like, they're attracted to each other. That's kind of the whole thing. It's like, oh, we are attracted to each other, but it's forbidden. It's an office. You're my boss. Whatever. But that just feels more a function of the story and the story that they are trying to tell

as opposed to any actual, anything generating between the two of them on screen. And so because of that and because of a lot of other things that maybe we'll get into in terms of just like how this story doesn't actually make a lot of sense. And look, in a rom-com, the story doesn't necessarily have to make sense. But if there's also no chemistry with the two leads, then I'm going to start thinking about everything else that doesn't make sense. So I found it's difficult to watch. And it just proved to me that JLo is very hot, but not necessarily a good romantic performer. And that's my story.

And I'm sticking to it. I get that. And, you know, because I revisited our conversation about Ticket to Paradise this morning, it was interesting to me that one of the things we talked about in that film is that, you know, that movie is George Clooney and Julia Roberts playing the parents of Caitlin Dever. and the two of them have been divorced for a long time, but they're still, you know, they eventually are going to blah, blah, blah, get back together. And they go to kind of interrupt Kaylon Dever's wedding, despite the chemistry between the two of them, which they absolutely have. One of the things that we talked about was that these relationships weren't built out enough to make them feel compelling. And I think that this movie has the same problem. What they're trying to do,

and I do respect this, this movie is absolutely intended to respect the role. The movie is absolutely intended to respect the roles of lust and sex in romance more than some movies do, right? There are a lot of rom-coms that are very chaste. You're going all the way through and kissing at the end. They're not going for that. They're trying to acknowledge that people being physically attracted to each other is a big part of what happens sometimes at the beginning of becoming involved with someone. And as part of that, you know, Aisha mentioned this kind of Jennifer Lopez is very beautiful.

She looks awesome. She's super hot. And they try, I think, to work around that by having him sort of at the moment that he meets her, you know, there's this thing where he's sort of like gobsmacked and says you're glowing and he kind of is stammering over his words and so forth. Ms. Cruz, I can assure you I am quite capable and happy to help with whatever you may need help with shoes or law, probably more law-based help. I imagine you need actually from me. And it's supposed to kind of get that out of the way by acknowledging that if Jalo was the CEO of your company, then the first time you met her, you'd be like, what? Right? And I think they're trying to kind of deal with the over-the-toppiness of her sexiness. But I think in a weird way, it throws the movie off a little bit.

I also think as it goes on, it's just never clear to me how they get to like each other. It's clear to me how they get to be hot for each other. And I think I probably sabotaged myself with this movie because of the expectations that I had. I have found Brett Goldstein to be a writer with a very high emotional IQ based on the work that he did on Ted Lasso, but especially on shrinking. And I think I expected a little more of that deeply human stuff that he has brought to some of his other writing since he was the co-writer of this. And I didn't really find it. I got to say also, I appreciate a stacked supporting cast. But, like, there's a lot of people in here where I'm like, why is this what Betty Gilpin is doing?

Are you two in love with each other? What? Sydney. Sydney, our relationship is completely professional. Something happened to the Dominican Republic. I mean, she's funny in it. She is. Yeah.

I mean, my guess is that A, Netflix pays. I think people like Brett Goldstein. I was going to say, I think this is where you see the budget. Yeah, I think that they could afford. to have, even like having Edward James almost play Jennifer Lopez's dad again as he did. Selena ringing in. Yes, and Selena. Yeah.

I'm a huge fan of his. Just like as human being, as a performer. And like the first scene where he shows up, it's like some boardroom scene. I was watching with my husband. And I was like, wow, it really is like when you get a real old head, like the level of gravitas just goes way up. Yeah. And I was happy to see him. But I was also like, wow, you're adding a lot.

Like even Tony Hale's presence, Amy Sideres' presence. I'm like, y'all are adding a lot to this film that I wasn't expecting to see that sort of supporting cast. I feel what both of you are saying. I can't even say that I technically disagree with either of you. I mean, especially Aisha, to your point about Jennifer Lopez in romantic comedies. For me, Monster-in-law, the wedding planner made in Manhattan. Of the sort of 2000s of romantic comedies, I will go back and watch.

Jennifer Lopez more so out of like nostalgia and a general positive regard that I have for her, even though I know that she's totally ridiculous. I've written on the NPR.org website about how ridiculous Jennifer Lopez is. But there is something I find very compelling. For me, I'm at a place in Jennifer Lopez's career. I'm at a place in her career and my understanding of her career. But her sort of self mythology around being this like public figure who's so associated with love and romance, but always seems to strike out in that area of her life. but always seems to kind of be trying again. It's very interesting to me that this is such a part of her persona because I do think that

some of it is constructed, obviously. She would not be able to be the successful this long without some sort of constructed identity that we can all, that we're all sort of fascinated with to a certain degree. But I don't know. Some of it is like, I think I might have been on this show to discuss her, like, recent, like films that were about herself, her, like, long music video film. This is me now. This is me now.

Yeah. The documentary she made about making. I love how bonkers that movie is. And that's the thing. I think for me, I get a lot of mileage out of, like, part of me can sort of buy into her being interested in a guy like Brett Goldstein, who may be on the surface, we're not exactly seeing the math on screen of why they grow to love each other, even though I did buy their attraction. To me, every Jennifer Lopez rom-com of, like, the past decade, there's like sort of like a meta-narrative for me around, like, sort of what she's, you know, what she's. she's trying to also work out through her persona and also in her personal life that I don't know, there's like so much self mythology at work on all levels of sort of like the Jennifer Lopez

as like failed love goddess facet of her whole thing. For me, that is what makes these really sometimes not very good newer romantic comedies like work for me. And also too, there's like also sort of to me another whole other meta narrative about like I'm watching the film. And also I think you've all seen Jennifer Lopez and break gold scenes like. Like, their press tour for this is kind of really, they're really playing up the aspect of like, Brett Goldstein being obsessed with Jennifer Lopez, which like, I mean, you can go back and find a lot of, like, quotes from him in different interviews talking about how he's seen all of her movies and how he really wants to be in a movie with her and write something for her.

There also, to me, is this sort of like, I'm like, I don't know, Jennifer. Like, this is the kind of man you need. Like, this is, it feels like to me, like the sort of role that he's playing both on the press tour and in the film. I don't know. it kind of feels like it fits into like sort of like maybe this isn't just who Jackie Cruz in the film needs in her life, like a guy who's sort of like pathetically obsessed with her to the point where it kind of ruins his life.

I think that she kind of needs that in real life too. So I don't know. I mean like I still got more mileage out of this. I think because I am fascinated with the whole Jennifer Lopez, will she ever find love of it all? And like, I don't know, on screen and in real life, it's like who's going to be the man to really be that. That's a thing, though, right?

It's like so much of this is coming from outside of what is actually on the page and what is in the final product. Right. But also, I'm like, at this point, what are we expecting from Jennifer Lopez in a romantic comedy? That's exactly true. That's exactly true. Okay. We are going to take a quick break. But when we come back, we will talk about the sillier aspects of the plot and whether they even matter for a rom-com.

Welcome back. Okay. Aisha, I know you have more thoughts. about J-Lo. Is Jennifer Lopez a movie star? Absolutely. But is she an actress? It really depends on the script.

Yeah. And again, beyond the chemistry between her and Brett Goldstein, whatever, I also just think like who she is as a character throughout this doesn't really hold up and is not explored in an interesting way. The most interesting thing about her is that we learn that she's an anglophile, like, in a kind of creepy way. But like, it was so weird. It's so weird.

But then also, like, they set her. up as this quote-unquote nightmare boss, like she's a Miranda Priestley type character. And yet we don't really... Is she? I don't know if I even got that that was what she was supposed to be. In the beginning, they're like, don't look her in the eye. Don't compliment her shoes. She hates the sound of breathing.

Don't breathe. But if you have to breathe, try to take a quick gas through the side of your mouth like this. All of her coworkers are talking about her. They do not sustain that throughout the... And they don't sustain that. And I'm just like, what are we doing? here. Is she a horrible person? And then at the end, near the end, where she's like, we're all family. I'm like, how did we make these leaps from? At that point, I was like, whatever, girl, I'll give it to you.

This film has a lot of problems that I would put in the bucket of if the love story were working, I wouldn't care. Yes. But there's a lot of stuff that's like, the whole kickoff of this movie is the airline is getting sued. And the reason the airline is getting sued is that an arrival airline, says, well, we were all lined up to get access to these gates at this airport, but then you went out and either slept with the guy who ran the airport or you paid off the guy who ran the airport. She's accused of. And he gave you the gates and took them away from us.

I'm not sure that's a lawsuit against the airline. Like, it might be a lawsuit against the airport guy if he undid a contract you had. But, like, what are they being sued for other than... a lawsuit that requires everyone to start talking about whether she slept with this guy from the airport or not. And so she's defending, like, her virtue in a way. And it plays into this sub-storyline that the board is always trying to fire her. Why? Like, why is the board always trying to fire her? If they're trying to fire her, why don't they just fire her? If her dad, who's the big head honcho, who's still kind of lurking on the fringes of things, even though he retired from being the CEO.

If he's on her side and he's supporting her, why are they always trying to fire her? If he's not, then why aren't they firing her? And it's like, so these are all things that I wouldn't care. There's also when you find out, so Jody Whitaker plays his sister, who is the reason why he is in the United States. And when you first get an explanation of what exactly happened with her, I was like, well, obviously, she's lying about this. This is not going to be what actually happened. But it is apparently. And that's a wild choice, I think.

It's one of those things where it's less these things in a romantic comedy are deathly important. It's more when you find yourself spending time thinking about these things, you know that something is not working in the basic thrust of it. And it's interesting, the conversation about Jennifer Lopez, I often find that the more kind of, of over the top the project, the more I buy her. I actually have enjoyed her more in something like shotgun wedding, which is like this absolutely whack-a-doodle action picture comedy, wedding comedy, very violent action comedy. She's like shooting people. She's great and violent.

Enough is a, like, she's great in that movie. Love it. Yeah. Let me just get to this and ask you guys this. Okay. Did you get the sense that there's like an underlying thing in this movie of like, oh, everybody shouldn't be so persnickety about the CEO sleeping with people who were in the company. I wonder if even like one or two scenes that really could have sold, I think, they're kind of somewhat odd couple dynamic where she's this very, very American, like, embollient, sexy, vivacious woman.

And he's this more sort of understated, dry, very British, more reserved kind of guy who kind of does have like a raunchy streak. I think that the film could have benefited from having one or two scenes that really solidified what could make them so exciting as a kind of odd couple. Yeah. That played into their individual peculiarities, like, to really bring it together. Yeah. And one thing I did appreciate about this film is that it does not set up the dynamic as one person wants the relationship and the other person doesn't. Or one person is needy and the other person can provide what they need.

It really is both of them meet each other, see each other. something in the other person, both of them are not pursuing it because it's at work, essentially. Yeah. And I do like the kind of relative balance of that compared to, and Jennifer Lopez has talked about this a little bit with this film that it's not a thing like Maida Manhattan where like she's, you know, potentially being kind of rescued by a rich person or even the wedding planner where she's kind of working for richer people, that it kind of puts her on an evener keel, right?

With him, I mean, even she's obviously his boss. but like it doesn't put them in a, it's not a thing where one of them needs and the other one of them gives. And I do appreciate that about it. And I think maybe that is where you see a little bit of the Brett Goldstein, Joe Kelly, kind of emotional IQ that I was talking about. I just wanted a little bit more of that because those writers are so good at scenes where human beings come to understand each other. Yeah. And I wanted more of that in this relationship because I respect the fact that they, want to talk about the role of lust and sex. I was expecting a little bit more sex or sexy time than what, like, we get humorous sexual situations. You were expecting like tender sex, like, sexy sex. Yeah, sexy sex. And also just like, again, maybe that would have helped me

believe that they actually had chemistry as opposed to just like, let's make fun of the fact that she's obsessed with British people. Like, sure. I see, I believe that the camera. They didn't need to have that. They didn't need to have the whole anglophile angle. I believed the chemistry before then. But again, I mean, that's also me, again, grafting the real life Jennifer Lopez. I'm like, girl, you need someone who's going to be obsessed with you. You need to get it together.

Open your eyes up. We've been alone. I love how, like, for Brittany, these are all just texts about Jennifer Lopez, like in the greater Jennifer Lopez mythology. Yeah. Which, like, maybe they are that for Jennifer Lopez, too. I think they kind of are. It is interesting. She's Elizabeth Taylor.

She's the Elizabeth Taylor of our time. The thing is she believes in love, though. Listen, I think if you go into this with appropriate expectations, which are what do I expect a J-Lo Netflix rom-com to be, then I think it is possible that like, like, Brittany, you will come out feeling like I got what I ordered, even though I wouldn't order it every day. No. That's a good description. It's like a blooming onion. Exactly. But I got what I ordered.

Things worked out. Do you like a streaming rom-com? This is one, right? You're right, though. You're totally right. Sold. That's what I would say. All right.

I think that we have some mixed feelings about this movie, but sometimes that's how it goes. Sometimes that is how it goes. That brings us to the end of our show, Brittany Luce, Aisha Harris. Thank you so much for being here. I wish both of you all of the appropriate love in your lives that you need and want. Thank you so much, Linda. Thank you, Linda.

All right. Just a reminder, signing up for Pop Culture Happy Hour Plus is a great way to support our show. You support public radio. And you can listen to all of our episodes sponsor free, which is pretty cool. So please go find out more about that. You can go to plus.npr.org slash happy hour, or you can visit the link, which is in our show notes.

This episode was produced by Liz Metzger and Mike Katzif. It was edited by our showrunner, Jessica Reedy. Hello, come in, provides our theme music. Thank you for listening to Pop Culture Happy Hour from NPR. I'm Linda Holmes, and we'll see you all next time.