Upgraded – Another Cute and Cheesy Romcom (Early Review)

Upgraded is Prime Video’s latest romcom starring the one and only Camila Mendes. Ana (Mendes) is an ambitious intern dreaming of a career in the art world while trying to impress her demanding boss Claire (Tomei). When she’s upgraded to first class on a work trip, she meets the handsome and charming Will (Renaux), who mistakes Ana for her successful boss. This little white lie sets off a glamourous chain of events, romance, and significant career opportunities for Ana, until her fib threatens to surface and expose who she really is. While the film doesn’t reinvent the wheel or do anything remotely original when it comes to romcoms, it is a perfectly harmless and fairly cute addition to the genre that will make for a delightful watch with one’s significant other come Valentine’s Day.

The main reason Upgraded works anywhere near as well as it does is the highly talented Mendes and the irresistible charm she brings to Ana. Not only is she charismatic and extremely likeable, she continues to show how strong her comedic chops are as she essentially carries the film and is the main reason to watch it. This is very much Mendes’ film but Renaux as her love interest is quite solid here as well and their adorable chemistry gets better and better as the film goes on. Believable love interests, they make it easy to care about them and their blossoming romance and hoping they wind up together in the end. Meanwhile, Tomei is a real scene stealer as Ana’s boss Claire and clearly had a blast playing a part that is a lot different from what she usually plays nowadays. Most of the film’s biggest laughs come from Tomei and the unique mentor and mentee relationship between her and Ana is surprisingly sweet and generates the film’s biggest laughs.

That being said, this will likely only appeal to those who are in its target audience and for those who are not fans of romcoms or similar streaming films, this will probably not change any minds. It is insanely predictable, formulaic, and doesn’t do a single thing most audiences haven’t seen countless times before. Most can predict just about every single aspect of the story and its characters, and how they will wrap up, early on. Hardly any of the film’s side characters are all that funny, likeable, or memorable with the exception of a select few, the messaging is a little muddled especially towards the end, and things wrap up in a way that stretches believability.

The film is ultimately at its best when it is focusing on the romantic side of the story, less so on Ana’s career despite this side of the story playing a large part in the other. It also takes a bit of time to get going with a first act that may test the patience of audiences, at least until the romance side of things come into play, due to how drawn out it initially feels. But pretty much once Will arrives on the scene, the film finds its stride and becomes pretty enjoyable for the remainder of its running time, getting better as it goes along. Though it might not offer anything new, it follows a very specific formula that clearly works, and it helps that it has a lot of heart that it proudly wears on its sleeve.

In the end, Upgraded might not come with the most glowing of recommendations or be the next must see romcom, if one is a fan of the genre or either one of its leads, it should deliver an entertaining and heartwarming watch just in time for Valentines Day. For those who go into this with the right expectations, they will more than likely have a decent time.

still courtesy of Amazon MGM Studios

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Connor Carey

www.connorsmoviereviews.com/