Noah Centineo is ‘The Perfect Date’

Hollywood has plans to mould ‘To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before’ star Noah Centineo into a teen heartthrob and his new movie ‘The Perfect Date’ is firmly branding that image.

Starring as the kind-hearted Brooks Rattigan, the story revolves around his personality and discovering who he is in order to get into Yale University. Because Rattigan is unsure of how to describe himself, his goal is to change himself so that he fits into whatever box Yale wants to put him in.

Coming from a poor background, his initial response is to aim for the high life and get a fancy car, like his peers. With this mindset, an opportunity comes his way to chaperone Celia Liebermann (played by Laura Marano) to prom.

Liebermann is not about having doors opened for her or wearing high heels – she simply wants to be accepted for who she is, and we love that more teen characters are not forced to be girly.

Sparking an idea from his ordeal with Liebermann (which technically isn’t even his in the first place), he believes he can be the perfect date for damsels in distress, for a fee. His gay best friend is Murph (Odiseas Georgiadis), a shy coder who has a crush on someone he has nicknamed ‘Tuna Melt’ because that’s all he orders at the shop Murph works at.

Unfortunately, not much individuality is given to Murph, who honestly would have made an impact if he had an even bigger personality, but sadly, he is ignored, much like what the protagonist does to him once his chaperone business takes off.

Struck by his gorgeous schoolmate Shelby Pace (Camila Mendes), he’s determined to be with her and ends up lying to her about his status. She’s a tough cookie, but not the typical high school bully who dismisses people who are poorer than her, but there are some qualities you can’t help but question.

Within 10 minutes or so, the flick becomes sadly predictable. You know who’s going to end up with who and you don’t even have to know their names. The movie, however, does tick all the boxes of a typical teen comedy – add a school setting, two attractive characters everyone learns to love, obstacles to prevent the protagonist’s love from blossoming for the next 30 minutes and, of course, loads of sarcasm. We have to say, the script is pretty funny. Kudos to the crew.

Like most teen films, the story is uplifting for those who need direction, especially for matric pupils who have no idea what they want to do after high school. We’re not entirely sure if Centineo will ever rival his chemistry with Lana Condor in ‘To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before’, but at least he tried.

Watch this on Netflix if you’ve got two hours to spare and crave a sweet and simple flick.

– Mickey Nekomba on Facebook; @MickeyNekomba on Twitter

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