by Kristin Ciliberto, Contributing Writer
Diamonds are a girl’s best friend, right? Well, based on the popular 2011 book by Melissa Hill of the same name, Something From Tiffany’s is the latest romantic comedy to drop from Amazon Prime Video, directed by Daryl Wein and produced by Reese Witherspoon. Set in the exciting time of Christmas in New York City, Ethan (Kendrick Sampson) is expected to propose to his girlfriend, Vanessa (Shay Mitchell). Ethan and his daughter, Daisy (Leah Jeffries), go to the luxurious Tiffany’s store to purchase an engagement ring. At that exact time, Gary (Ray Nicholson) searches to find an extravagant gift for his girlfriend, Rachel (Zoey Deutch, who also serves as an executive producer of the film). After an innocent accident outside the store, Ethan and Gary’s shopping bags get switched, causing a mix-up of the presents, which leads to unexpected surprises and lots of cornetto.
Rachel works as a baker at one of the shops in the Bryant Park Winter Village. Ethan shows up at the shop and helps Rachel with her orders, and eventually, they spend more time together, traveling around the city and seeing a capella singers while it snows. Both characters bond with slightly similar experiences of lack of success, and the loss of significant others. Ethan is a widower, and Rachel lost her mother at a young age.
This film follows the important lesson about love, which is to follow your heart and not your head. It’s a simple enough and touching romance cliché that has been done from time to time, but here, it is sparkled with Christmas magic. The romantic comedy is able to be a fun holiday watch due to the performances of Deutch and Sampson. They have terrific chemistry that brings some sparkle to the character of Rachel. Sampson and Deutch take full advantage of New York City during Christmas, and it becomes a character in the story. There are cute bonding scenes as audiences get to know the respected characters.
It still has the typical, clichéd, Christmas tropes; however, this film made me smile. It certainly is not as great as Deutch’s previous rom-com, Set It Up, but her joyous self makes the film worthy to watch. Deutch has certainly grown as an actor in the last year, thanks to her starring roles in The Outfit and Not Okay, and she continues to grow, taking on characters that are likable and interesting to watch. Sampson’s performance is worthy of an acknowledgment as well, as he brings out the best scenes when he’s with Deutch. He not only has chemistry with Deutch, but has warm and playable conversations with Rachel’s best friends, Terri (Jojo T. Gibbs) and Daisy.
As for the direction of Wein, he leaves nothing new to sprinkle or sparkle the film. He does bring the spunk the film needed, but as for creative choices, nothing stands out. It’s kind of a shame, since I have never previously seen the director’s work, so I was going in blind. However, his direction is much better than most of the Netflix original Christmas films to be released this year. There’s nothing graphic — it is a simple film that has the holiday cheesiness of a Lifetime or Hallmark movie, but levels it up with some Hollywood flair.
Score: 7/10
Something from Tiffany’s is currently streaming on Prime Video