Desperados (2020)

Director: LP
Writer(s): Ellen Rapoport
Starring: Nasim Pedrad, Anna Camp, Lamorne Morris and Sarah Burns

You know what? I always complain about how lame most “rom-coms” are, following boring formulas to a “T” while barely interjecting any original ideas of their own. I mean, technically almost every movie (and every book, piece of music, etc.) is a retread of many others - there are so many existing pieces of media that it’s impossible to create something that’s entirely unique - but cheesy rom-coms are almost unwavering in their commitment to tired tropes.

But then I forget about the other side of the equation: Rom-coms that try to be “edgy”. These are almost worse in that they still follow the same cliches of Hallmark-style crapfests, but just throw in a few extra “fucks” or maybe some heightened sexual content, for no reason. 

Desperados is a good example of the latter, but it does manage to be slightly better than other such entries thanks to a good cast who work well together, and the occasional humorous moment that lands.

Wesley (yes, she’s a girl) is a mess of a woman whose life is a series of failed relationships. She’s that prototypical “edgy” girl: Promiscuous and willing to do anything in her quest to find true love because, you know, that’s funny. In the opening, she is on a blind date with Sean (Lamorne Morris, that likable dude from "New Girl"), who instantly shuts her down when he sees just how desperate she is.

Rebounding from that, she meets Wes, a man with whom she shares an immediate attraction. She likes him so much that she even makes him wait a month before inviting him into her bedroom…and then doesn’t hear from him for five days. This leads her (and her two best friends) to get drunk and fire off a profanity-laden email in which no target is off limits…including his dead father.

But would you believe it if I told you that there was a good reason for his radio silence? Of course, right after her friends click “send”, she finally receives the call she’s been waiting for, but receives unexpected news: He was in a serious accident while traveling to Mexico and has been recuperating in a hospital. 

Once again desperate (see how much of a recurring theme this is in her life) she forces her two friends to accompany her to Mexico, with the idea that they will delete the incriminating message before he can read it. Of course, things do not go that simply. Also an “of course”: Sean happens to be there at the exact same time. Could she possibly find that the man of her dreams isn’t the one that she originally flew to Mexico for?

The comedy here is rather tired, such as a recurring joke involving a mother who thinks Wes is attracted to her 12-year-old son, and the increasingly extreme lengths Wesley will go in order to save a fledgling relationship. Yet the cast is pleasant enough together that it helps offset some of the failed humor and the obligatory fight between the self-centered Wesley and her friends when they realize their friend is so hung up on men, that she has no time to appreciate them. 

There really isn’t any form of sexual chemistry between the two eventual lovebirds - which, let’s be honest, is kind of a drag in a movie where we’re supposed to cheer for them to get together - but they do have a platonic compatibility that makes their scenes feel genuine, in a way. Maybe not the way the filmmakers - or us, as the viewers - were hoping, but it’s a small shred of authenticity in a movie otherwise surrounded by unnecessary excess.

ENTERTAINMENT RATING: 5.5/10

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