A Perfect Pairing - A Netflix Movie Review

Sometimes you have to travel to figure life out.

A Perfect Pairing aired on Netflix in 2022. Unhappy with her job, Lola quits and decided to make her own wine business. Traveling to Australia to meet with a major client soon turns into a completely different route. Sparking chemistry with one of the ranchers, Lola learns more about herself than she expected.

I was excited to watch this film for two reasons. It had a premise about the wine industry and Victoria Justice, one of my favorite Nick show actresses was in it. A Perfect Pairing is your average predictable love story that could have had a different ending.

This is the first film that I have seen with Victoria Justice that was not Zoey 101 or Victorious. My first critique is that she should have been given a different name and not the same name that she had from Zoey 101!

Nevertheless, Justice did a good job finding new characteristics for her role. Lola is a hard-working woman who wants a change. As she described herself, Lola is brave and crazy. That’s what I liked most about her.

The problem is that the writers gave her several cringe moments. I was literally saying ‘oh, come on!’ to my TV screen the 10th time Lola tripped over something or made the tiniest mistake with an easy chore.

Adam Demos fit the physical description of the rugged cowboy love interest, but he was not a strong actor. Mumbling or most of his dialogue getting lost in his (possible Australian) accent, Demos hardly emoted. Lola and Max had chemistry when bonding as friends, but the romantic flare was not there.

Lola had more chemistry with Hamish (Nicholas Brown), a character who has five minutes of screen time than with Max. I liked the side characters in this film. Lola’s roommates were my favorite, each having a different personality. They also have their own story, gradually becoming friendlier with Lola.

Lola’s boss and work partner were given an unnecessary storyline. There was no need to take a break from the main story to switch to short scenes of what her overdramatic boss was planning to do next. It was so cartoonish. I also don’t like how Audra (Lucy Durack) was written. It was mostly to amplify the message about second chances, but she was too passive.

A Perfect Pairing runs on the usual rom-com cliches. We know that the main character will find what she is looking for in this new life and then fall in love with the first handsome man who helped her out. It is still exciting. I wanted to see how the story would play out.

Stuart McDonald should have gone with a different ending. In my opinion, the main couple should not have gotten back together. It ruined the whole message that you have the power to walk away from things that are not working out.

Finding the best picturesque locations to film in, McDonald succeeded in the moral about traveling. I would love to travel to Australia now to see all the mountains and baby kangaroos. The waterfall area was beautiful. Traveling helps you figure life out.

Ever since I watched Sideways, I am drawn to films about the wine industry. Wine plays a character of its own in A Perfect Pairing. Every bottle tells a story. What story do you want it to tell?

A Perfect Pairing is not the most original film but it is worth a watch on Netflix. Have a glass of wine and enjoy it.