Reviewers of The Movie Office Romance Exemplify a Current Problem That People Face

I've watched the movie Office Romance, recently released by Netflix, twice. After deciding I actually liked this movie, I started reading reviews and was not surprised to see the haters out in force. As someone who likes to observe human behavior, I've seen a large uptick in negativity from people about, well, almost everything.

Many folks on Rotten Tomatoes claimed the movie was formulaic. Well duh, what romantic comedy isn't? Here's a novel thought: It's almost impossible to come up with a new idea in 2026. It seems to me that making a movie is like playing the piano; there's only 12 notes in every scale. It's not the notes that make a song special, it's how you order them, use the time between the notes and the volume of the notes to evoke emotion. It's the same for movies.

Everything has been done before. The winners are those that can find a way to present the same of stuff in entertaining and unique ways. Show something that is normally offensive and do it in a way that funny.

Unless you have no emotions whatsoever, Office Romance will entertain you. Jennifer Lopez is adorable and looks amazing for her age. She plays a CEO who is tough but nice to everyone and has daddy issues.

Brett Goldstein is absolutely hilarious in his fumbling overly polite mannerisms. And Betty Gilpin almost steals the show. She is an over the top crusher of souls and funny as hell!

As with all movies, it's often less the plot than the delivery. When I see an action movie and someone gets shot, it's not the shooting itself that impresses me. It's the action hero's flare for displaying seemingly impossible antics to get it done. It's the shooter being successful from a mile away. It's the thief that steals an art painting while the gallery is open using misdirection and almost magic subterfuge. It's all been done and shown before.

The problem as I see it is that people can't relax enough to just have fun. Everyone is worried and stressed about what's happening in the world around them. The cost of food is rising quickly. The cost of housing has gotten out of control. Gas prices are all over the place. And what used to be considered a good income, now barely lets you survive.

OK, so there are things in the world that stress you out. But can't you sit back and watch a movie just for the entertainment of it? Must you make yourself feel better by tearing down everything and everyone around you? Enjoying something and having fun is not a teeter totter with you on one side and you only feel good when you make others feel bad.

Maybe the worst thing is that people can feel somewhat anonymous when writing a review on the web. So they say things they wouldn't normal say to someone's face.

One of the things that amazed me when reading the reviews on Rotten Tomatoes was that many people gave this movie a 6 or a 7 overall rating but then said it wasn't anything special. The rating and reviews don't agree. A rating of 3 or 4 says it's nothing special. A 6 or a 7 says it's decent and somewhat good.

When did people get so polite that they give a good rating but a bad review? Is that being polite? I'm not sure what it is.

So I asked Google search engine the question and received the following:

People default to harsh criticism as a coping mechanism to mask personal insecurities, project their own flaws, or temporarily boost their ego. Modern digital platforms amplify this behavior by rewarding negativity with engagement, making it incredibly easy to vent frustrations safely behind a screen.

In my opinion this has become a common defense mechanism when people are feeling stressed about life. I wish people would recognize when their doing this a stop to realize that it's not benefitting anyone to act like this.

Instead of criticism of everything around you, try acceptance of life, people, and situations and move on. When there's little you can do to change your world, why dwell on a waste of time and effort. If you stop focusing on want you don't have and start being grateful for what you do have, you'll start to find joy in all this madness.

Maybe then you can watch a movie like Office Romance and just enjoy it for what it is, a cute, romantic, and playful movie. And, if you're not careful, you might start liking other things too.