Good on Paper

Name: Good on Paper
Genre: Comedy, Romance, Crime
Released: June 23, 2021
Duration: 92 min
Rating: 54
Cast: Adam Lustick, Alexander Roberts, Beth Dover, Britney Young, Christopher Nicholas Smith

2021

METASCORE

Mixed or average reviews based on 11 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Mixed or average reviews based on 15 Ratings

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4.8

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4.8	User Score Mixed or average reviews based on 15 Ratings

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Movie Details & Credits

Netflix | Release Date (Streaming): June 23, 2021 | Unrated

Starring: Adam Lustick, Alexander Roberts, Beth Dover, Britney Young, Christopher Nicholas Smith, Hunter Hill, Iliza Shlesinger, Kimia Behpoornia, Margaret Cho, Matt McGorry, Rebecca Delgado Smith, Rebecca Rittenhouse, Rebekka Johnson, Ryan Hansen, Taylor Marie Hill, Tess Paras, Tony Rodriguez

Summary: After years of putting her career ahead of love, stand-up comic Andrea Singer (Iliza Shlesinger) has stumbled upon the perfect guy. On paper, he checks all the boxes but is he everything he appears to be?

Director: Kim Gatewood

Genre(s): Comedy, Romance, Crime

Rating: Unrated

Runtime: 92 min

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Critic Reviews

Courtney Howard

Jun 23, 2021

Containing razor-sharp witticisms about feminine intuition, gendered sexual politics and relationships (both platonic and romantic), it excels beyond its self-deprecating title. Read full review

RogerEbert.com Monica Castillo

Jun 23, 2021

Good on Paper sometimes gets silly, sometimes serious, but it never waivers from its mission of being funny through it all. Read full review

Anne T. Donahue

Jun 23, 2021

A witty tale of deceit and betrayal, it’s an uncomfortable look at the values we tend to buy into and why. Read full review

IndieWire Kate Erbland

Jun 23, 2021

Good on Paper can’t quite find its footing, offering insight and sparkle in only fits and starts. Read full review

Caroline Siede

Jun 23, 2021

Instead of translating a real-life experience into something enjoyably madcap, Good On Paper more often than not feels like a friend recounting every detail of a story that’s less interesting than they think it is. Read full review

The Playlist Lauren Coates

Jun 23, 2021

The film is self-aware enough to understand that it shouldn’t be trying to reinvent the wheel, and the result is a perfectly serviceable and sometimes genuinely funny rom-com bolstered by a few standout supporting roles and the strength of its premise. Read full review

Jacob Oller

Jun 22, 2021

Good on Paper wasn’t that good as a stand-up segment; as a movie, it should be permanently erased from the memories of anyone unlucky enough to have seen it. Read full review

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User Reviews

Aktike

Jul 11, 2021

Absolutely hilarious, strong female protagonist, could not rate highly enough. Definitely worth a watch. This movie was incredible. Iliza has done an incredible job encapsulating the mind bending nonsense of what it's like being in a relationship with a man who lies to you, and feels likeAbsolutely hilarious, strong female protagonist, could not rate highly enough. Definitely worth a watch. This movie was incredible. Iliza has done an incredible job encapsulating the mind bending nonsense of what it's like being in a relationship with a man who lies to you, and feels like he's entitled to your time, attention, and love, regardless of how he treats you.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

risonyeong

Jun 26, 2021

this is quite a funny show about girls bashing up disgusting guys. jokes are quite smart and the actress is a real stand-up comedian. the guy seemed to be a good guy and quite handsome in a nerdy way. he was so believable and the audience might fall for him too until all those horrible liesthis is quite a funny show about girls bashing up disgusting guys. jokes are quite smart and the actress is a real stand-up comedian. the guy seemed to be a good guy and quite handsome in a nerdy way. he was so believable and the audience might fall for him too until all those horrible lies start to emerge. subtle at first.
glad to see the funny butch margaret cho back on screen. and she is really really originally funny and good that she had very significant air time in this movie.
i loved this movie and would recommend it, since there's nothing much to watch these days… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

Flipje

Jun 24, 2021

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This mostly feels like a Netflix film. There is something about Netflix where the majority of their films feel 'not quite there' in terms of substance and story. They are mainly 'good' or 'decently average'. Like franchise restaurant food where the calories you shovel into your face could almost be decent, Netflix is somewhere between the Olive Garden and T.G.I.Friday's of entertainment. It is pleasant and you don't often risk too much heartburn. Basically, regrets are mild, never painful (i.e. no late night bathroom visits). And the reason I am awarding 'Good on Paper' seven stars instead of 5 or 6 (which one-third the script would merit) is because of the likeable characters in this film. The 'is he/she a grifter/using me/playing me?' storyline is fairly bland 'on paper' (I had to find somewhere to 'sneak' that in, a little on the nose, right?) and at one point, the 'heartburn' of this part in the drama/screenplay was telling me, 'turn this off, turn this off, read a book, learn an instrument, take back your life'. This moment occurred when the couples go golfing and Dennis (Hansen) fakes a back injury to get out of teeing up. The hackneyed moment borders on cringe, but I thought, okay, let's see this through. Second chances. Otherwise, up to this point, I was growing impatient with the likeable lead, Andrea (Schlesinger) but thankfully, thankfully, the film backed off the maudlin cliff of being formulaic and traipsed into some rather fun and whacky territory. I would say the first thirty to forty minutes feels standard, paint by numbers in terms of the 'con' relationship story or the cuttlefish narrative (to refer to Margaret Cho's Margot describing Dennis's involvement with Andrea). This first third, fair warning, you have seen this run-of-the-mill crud before where everything is at first great with the con person (or person of con) Dennis then you are suspicious (where does he live, why does he have roommates, etc.) and you, along with Andrea continue asking all the other irking questions concerning his background. However, the middle and the last third of this film brought some redemption to the table. The actual adventure of discovery Andrea makes is a pleasure and brings on some patiently-deserved laughs. I started to chuckle more. I was smiling. Andrea with the help of Margot and an actress rival, Serena, roped unintentionally along, embark on some amateur sleuthing. Next, there is the comical and sincere catharsis following a botched/pseudo kidnapping and with the revelation, the confession flying out of Dennis' lips you might think it was going to end but the fake 'Mr. Nice Guy', maintaining his role as pathetic idiot, has to get in his last demented digs with some courtroom drama. By the end I was pleased. It started off like Olive Garden goop pasta and ended up more like T.G.I.Friday's ribs. The satisfaction was there. So prepare yourself for a lackluster first act, a fun middle and a weird-maybe-quirky-but-never-disturbing final. I will also say, I didn't really know Iliza Schleshinger's comedy work before and if this film inspires curiosity, that is also a plus.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

Cududa

Jun 27, 2021

I couldn’t understand why the movie got so much hate, then I realized it was only men hating on it and they probably were just uncomfortable identifying with the antagonist

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

joshwashere

Feb 14, 2022

The premise is great and I got a few laughs but the characters were very two dimensional. The boyfriend was gross and pathetic, Iliza always tried her best, and her friend was a badass. That's it.

Perhaps the hardest part of watching this movie is how heavy-handed it is. After each momentThe premise is great and I got a few laughs but the characters were very two dimensional. The boyfriend was gross and pathetic, Iliza always tried her best, and her friend was a badass. That's it.

Perhaps the hardest part of watching this movie is how heavy-handed it is. After each moment when the boyfriend or Pretty Girl do something wrong, Iliza or another character has to spell out to us how gross it is. I wanted to feel palpable awkwardness and instead it feels like a classroom lesson. For example, Dude Bro is a complete bonehead but then randomly pipes up "that's pretty ableist, bro". He's just another mouthpiece.

I thought the courtroom scene was a great idea, since the whole movie is a judgement of their relationship. The talking in the toilets part creeped me out.

I'd recommend this movie if you like "gotcha!" comebacks, but it really wasn't for me.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

MetacriticOnur

Jun 23, 2021

bad
[ bad ]

adjective, worse, worst;(Slang) bad·der, bad·dest for 36.
not good in any manner or degree.

1 of 3 users found this helpful12

mikomido

Jun 25, 2021

It's as if Iliza Schlesinger is still bitter, IRL, that she has to milk this "I was conned by this guy" victim mentality, stand-up bit that she has been doing since she started, which was mediocre at best, which translates into a horrible, self-indulgent, vanity movie. Then again Netflix,It's as if Iliza Schlesinger is still bitter, IRL, that she has to milk this "I was conned by this guy" victim mentality, stand-up bit that she has been doing since she started, which was mediocre at best, which translates into a horrible, self-indulgent, vanity movie. Then again Netflix, does greenlight excrement like this and Cuties.… Expand

1 of 2 users found this helpful11

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