Tom's Guide Verdict: 'Voicemails for Isabelle’'
- Rating: 3/5 stars
- Verdict: "If you don't mind your rom-coms being highly predictable, you might find 'Voicemails for Isabelle' charming enough to warrant a watch. It rigidly follows the genre playbook, but you'll still find yourself invested in this meet-cute romance thanks to strong work from its leads, Zoey Deutch and Nick Robinson."
- Where to watch: "Voicemails for Isabelle" is on Netflix now
I’m able to excuse a lot of flaws in a movie romantic comedy so long as the two leads at the heart of the plot feel worth getting invested in. “Voicemails for Isabelle” is such an example of a flawed rom-com that still managed to get its hooks into me because of its likeable stars.
The pairing of Zoey Deutch and Nick Robinson, who both have prior experience in this genre, goes some way towards absolving “Voicemails for Isabelle” of several of its sins, such as the predictable plot, bloated runtime and the awfully generic soundtrack. Even if these issues can’t be entirely forgiven, Deutch and Robinson’s chemistry keeps you invested.
Furthermore, it’s mercifully a cut above some of the streamer’s recent efforts in this area, like “Office Romance” and “Ladies First.” Anybody looking for an easy-breezy, unchallenging rom-com will surely find this movie charming enough. It packs in a blossoming romance, a rumination on grief, and a white lie that you just know is going to blow up before the end. Even if these aren't new ideas, they're at least used competently.
What is ‘Voicemails for Isabelle’ about?
San Francisco-based chef Jill (Zoey Deutch) is still reeling from the death of her best friend and sister, Isabelle (Ciara Bravo). To cope, she leaves deeply personal voicemails on her sister’s still active mobile number.
However, unbeknownst to Jill, Isabelle’s number has been reassigned to an Austin-based real estate agent, Wes (Nick Robinson). As Wes secretly listens to Jill’s funny, awkward and confessional messages, he starts to fall in love with a woman he’s never even met.
Using the information gained from the voicemail messages, Wes engineers a seemingly spontaneous meet-cute with Jill, and a sweet relationship starts to blossom. And if you’ve watched any rom-com movie ever, you can probably figure out what happens next…
‘Voicemails for Isabelle’ is just charming enough to work
As already noted, it’s really the likeability of Deutch’s Jill and Robinson’s Wes that will keep you watching “Voicemails for Isabelle.” The course of their relationship isn’t full of shocking moments or subversive twists, but they have strong chemistry and crucially feel like characters you want to see happy and end up together by the time the credits roll.
While they’re best together, it’s Deutch that carries the movie’s emotional weight. The death of her sister deeply impacts Jill, and Deutch portrays that all-consuming pain even in the moments where Jill appears happy. A later movie scene where Jill believes she lost the ability to listen to old voicemails Isabelle left while alive is highly impactful. Deutch sells the moment in an emotionally devastating fashion.
Meanwhile, Wes’ inner conflict gives the movie’s plot some dramatic momentum. He’s falling in love with Jill, while also racked with guilt for having used underhanded means to kickstart their relationship.
Like many rom-coms built around a little white lie, it’s not a question of whether the secret will spill out, but rather when and how Jill will find out. Sadly, when the moment does come, it falls mostly flat, thanks in large part to cookie-cutter scripting and the curious decision to rush the confrontation. Why not let the scene build and breathe a little?
Even if you don't mind the predictability of Jill and Wes' entanglement, you may find your patience tested by an early movie subplot that sees the former ghosted by a British dating guru, Tyler (Toby Sandeman). This shoe-horned sideplot is used to make a point about hypocrisy in modern dating, but it's perfunctory, and only delays the meeting between the two leads, which is the meat of the story, and what viewers came to watch.
Beyond Deutch and Robinson, pretty much everything else about “Voicemails from Isabelle” falls between fine and frustratingly generic. Leah McKendrick (who directs and writes) helms the movie with the typical Instagram-esque aesthetic common in 21st-century rom-coms. Everything looks ripped right out of a glossy catalogue, and filmmaking flair? Forget about it, this isn't that kind of movie.
Perhaps the movie’s commitment to generic taste is best exemplified by the soundtrack, which includes a recurring callback to Robyn’s “Dancing on My Own,” more than one Taylor Swift song, and a prolonged use of The Cinematic Orchestra’s “To Build A Home,” the prototypical sad movie track that had worn out its welcome by the mid-2010s. I half wonder if a producer merely googled “sad songs” and selected the top search result.
“Voicemails for Isabelle” is very much a streaming release. It serves as two hours of largely acceptable entertainment (side note: this movie did not need to be two hours). You can probably watch it while your attention span is equally preoccupied by your cellphone. It’s by no means a risible effort in the rom-com canon, but Deutch and Robinson can only do so much to elevate a movie that plods along through predictable beats. Even with their best efforts, it struggles to be anything more than mediocre.
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Watch "Voicemails for Isabelle" on Netflix now
