Jennifer Lopez and Brett Goldstein heat up the office in Netflix’s new romantic comedy, Office Romance. Early reviews are in.
Netflix has been pumping out rom-coms for years, even turning its biggest hits into ongoing franchises, like The Kissing Booth in 2018, followed by The Kissing Booth 2 in 2020, and The Kissing Booth 3 in 2021, or To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before in 2018, then To All the Boys: P.S. I Still Love You in 2020, and finally To All the Boys: Forever and Always in 2021. So what better move, then, than backing the latest project from director Ol Parker, Office Romance.
After George Clooney and Julia Roberts in his previous film, Ticket to Paradise, it’s now Jennifer Lopez and Brett Goldstein (also co-writing with Joe Kelly, as on Ted Lasso) who lead the charge. Jackie (Lopez) is the CEO of a big company that frowns on office relationships, but when she crosses paths with the new attorney Daniel (Goldstein), her convictions are put to the test. But let’s not get hung up on a story that’s perhaps a touch conventional: with a pair like this, a pleasant surprise is always possible (or not). The early reviews are in, and they’re rather tepid. Here’s the press roundup.
Office Romance: Tepid at Best
“The team behind the film, and especially the co-writer, producer and lead actor Brett Goldstein, clearly understood what makes studio romantic comedies so appealing, and put it all on display in this one. It’s a bit scattershot, and I may have inevitably missed the old-school vibe of films shot on film stock. But I can’t really complain. Throughout watching Office Romance, I had a big, blissful smile on my face.”
Screen Rant
“The film rides on the charisma of its stars the way you slip into a warm bath, and while the charismatic and fiery Goldstein doesn’t match the intensity of Lopez, that’s exactly the tone the movie is aiming for.”— Variety
“Truthfully, you don’t even need to enjoy Lopez to enjoy Office Romance. The film is like a pleasant breeze punctuated by funny gags and relatively light one-liners.”
Time
“The writers Goldstein and Joe Kelly (the same team behind Ted Lasso and Shrinking) try to compress in two hours a stream of twists on characters who could sustain a season of streaming television—like Daniel’s imprisoned sister played by Jodie Whittaker, or a hotel maid who is too sweet, played by Amy Sedaris. Alas, the result is far from convincing.”
The New York Times
“While not every adult romance needs to be sexually explicit, this restraint clashes with a plot that often leans toward vulgarity.
The Hollywood Reporter
“Romantic comedy is a genre I’ve always had a soft spot for, even through its lean years. And if Office Romance is a touch brighter than Netflix’s standard fare, the magic still isn’t fully there. Like the office it centers on, it’s too sterile and impersonal to truly melt you—just work, and not much play.”
The Guardian
“Even if, to use corporate language, Goldstein’s writing leaves something to be desired, as a performer he’s the undisputed draw of Office Romance. His TV character, grounded and unpretentious, drawn from Ted Lasso, brings a natural, effortless charm to the image he projects. He holds our attention with his warmth and mystery, revealing both sensitivity and humility.”
The New York Post
Thus the verdict is split between those who enjoyed the lukewarm soup and those who spit it out outright, though many concede it piles on too many parallel narratives for a two-hour tasting (yes, the metaphor stops there). And whether the performances truly hit the mark isn’t any clearer—some praise Lopez’s performance while panning Goldstein, and vice versa. The only option left is to go form our own opinion.
Office Romance hit Netflix on June 5, 2026.
