Desperados, directed by Laura Pergolizzi and starring Nasim Pedrad, Sarah Burns and Anna Camp, is attempting to be a rom-com but there’s very little essence of both in it. It is too desperate to seem like an edgy film about a woman and her friends who take a trip together to fix a drunken mistake.
In the film, Nasim Pedrad plays the character of Wesley, who is lamenting about not finding love almost half of the film, even though she just claims to have the worst year ever (umm, where them priorities at?). Perhaps the only appreciable aspect about Desperados happens to be the location it is majorly shot at. The Mexican resort and the backdrop are picturesque and absolutely gorgeous!
The 105 minutes have been a drag honestly, extremely unsurprising and with humour that is drier than the Martini you drank. Netflix definitely streams a host of entertaining rom-coms but this one is such a miss.
It is boring with a story so cliche that it is painfully predictable. Wesley is her early 30s has wailed enough for you to know by now that all she wants is a marriage and a family, her need to settle down is so intense that she almost moans it out while she is in the bed with a stranger (immensely unrealistic). The plot is stalled out in about 15 minutes so it is tedious to sit through the rest.
It is a typical blonde chick-flick!
Speaking of chick-flicks, the last time I checked, they still were entertaining. This one, however, is uniquely disappointing. Wesley’s ex has got engaged and she goes out on a blind date but instead falls and knocks herself out on a sidewalk till Jared (Robbie Amell) comes to her rescue.
Wesley, in a matter of two days, starts to see Jared and also goes to bed with him, after which it is assumed for a few minutes that Jared has ghosted Wesley. Wesley is hyperventilating and in her drunken stupor, she and her two companions write an email to Jared (the contents of which are dramatically and unnecessarily enlarged beyond proportions).
The mail goes through and a call comes through which tells us that Jared was in a comatose state for five whole days in Mexico! Our damsel who induces distress for herself almost every time knowingly has decided to set out to Mexico with her sidekicks in hopes to delete that brutal email from Jared’s phone/laptop (how original is this plot?).
It will be criminal of me to reveal anything more than this about the film that already has so less to offer.
What was the point of the movie?
The story loses track, it does not progress anyway like it had to or should have because now we have somebody else who Wesley has fallen for?! Umm… what? There’s a very weird vibe among the three friends too, you too will feel it. The friendships are loyal but aren’t heartfelt or genuinely worthy of considering as authentic.
Wesley’s performance is poor, no expressions, confusing body language and there’s something wrong with her voice. The cool girl persona didn’t work out for her, at all! The supporting cast has done a much better job but you cannot put the onus of carrying the film on their shoulders as the plot is flatter than a pancake!
Overall, Desperados is a not-so-great adventure you’d surely ditch!
The humour is crass, the plot is obviously overplotted… I mean a dolphin ejaculates in Wesley’s mouth! (How gross). I have personally felt that this movie tried too hard to be funny because the storyline is inane, to begin with. Desperados encircles around this platitude that women that getting married and bearing children is the virtuous thing to do, which is honestly so disturbing.
I was hoping that somebody calls out Wesley for her self absorbed identity, her not so devoted sidekicks finally do so. The sudden dose of realism was not channelised well by the film, very expected out of Desperados.
Wesley’s character is repulsive to a certain extent, her obsessive need to find a partner and happiness will make you stop watching the film in the middle. Wesley and this movie are a mess, a mindless mess which is frustrating honestly. This is a comedic misadventure you could totally not watch and find much better content that is streaming on Netflix.
Desperados is streaming right now on Netflix.