The Materialists on HBO.

[d.anders]

I was reluctant to watch it, then the first 20 minutes grabbed me. In many ways, it's a very NYC movie. You won't find these characters in Indiana. I was surprised by the writing. I thought it was good. Dakota Johnson surprised me. I thought she was terrific. Pedro Pascal is always good. I guess the weakest link is Chris Evans. Sadly, he sometimes looks like he's had work done around his eyes, but he still has a bit of eye candy quality. It's not easy to buy him as a poor, unemployed actor. Perhaps a few more nude scenes could have helped with that. But all in all, I thought the film was an interesting effort. It has a 77% on Rotten Tomatoes. It made $108 million on a $20 million budget. Not bad.

[Guest MikeThomas]

SPOILERS....SPOILERS

I quite enjoyed this movie.  Even though it had a happy ending, there was something very sad about it all.  Lots of very shallow characters with unreasonable expectations.  Big cities have a lot to offer, but are tough places to live.  

I thought Chris Evans looked great.

[BSR]

I saw it because I knew it wasn’t a rom-com but instead a critique on our materialistic society.  In that sense, I thought the movie worked.  The characters’ unhealthy obsession with salary, real estate, career, and even height made me uncomfortable, which was the whole point.  Yes, Dakota Johnson was better than I expected.  I love Chris Evans, but he’s too old to be playing a 37yo.  And Pedro Pascal’s apartment was To. Die. For.

[Guest MikeThomas]

He’s 44

[d.anders]

On 12/13/2025 at 8:42 PM, BSR said:

The characters’ unhealthy obsession with salary, real estate, career, and even height made me uncomfortable, which was the whole point.

I, too, think it was the point. NYC is full of people like this, which almost any social occasion will reveal. I thought Sex in the City did a good job exposing all these folk, and giving them a welcome platform. Narcissists who only care about the dollar amount on a price tag.