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THE VALET MOVIE REVIEW
One of the tried and true rom-com formulas is taking two people from different worlds and contriving a reason for them to have to pretend to be a couple. And now, there’s a new entry into the genre, Hulu’s much smaller albeit more charming The Valet, starring Eugenio Derbez (How To Be a Latin Lover) and Samara Weaving (Ready or Not). Antonio (Derbez) is a humble valet living with his mother (the late and great famed Mexican actress Carmen Salinas). He is separated from his wife and shares custody of their son. Meanwhile, actress Olivia Allan (Weaving), one of the biggest stars on the planet, is having an affair with city developer and married billionaire Vincent Royce (Max Greenfield). One night, when Olivia is getting into her Uber with Vincent standing next to her, Antonio crashes his bike into the car. The three are photographed together, sparking rumors of Olivia and Vincent’s affair. Fearing he will lose his company if his wife Kathryn (Betsy Brandt) divorces him, Vincent comes up with a plan to have Olivia and Antonio pretend to be a couple. Olivia accepts because she wants to avoid any bad publicity before the premiere of her new movie, “Earhart”. Antonio, true to form, humbly requests $12,850 to pay off his wife’s debts. Antonio and Olivia begin a fraud romance that grows into a true friendship. But not everyone falls for the ploy. Kathryn hires a private investigator to tail them. Culture clash comedy ensues, and Rose, Frank, and T.C. debate whether or not this movie is laugh out loud funny or generally sweet.
DIRECTED BY: Richard Wong
STARRING: Eugenio Derbez, Samara Weaving, Max Greenfield, Betsy Brandt, Marisol Nichols, Amaury Nolasco, Carmen Salinas, Noemi Gonzalez, Armando Hernández, Carlos Santos, Wilmer Calderon, Ravi Patel, John Pirruccello, Diany Rodriguez, Tiana Okoye, Ji Yong Lee
YOUR REVIEWERS
T.C. De Witt (Screener Squad)
T.C. De Witt is a multi-awarded writer/director originally from Wisconsin and now based in Los Angeles. His life has been devoted to the arts since he was a child. He’s been a stage performer, playwright, stand-up comic, film and television actor, radio DJ, podcaster published author, recorded musician, and comic writer/illustrator. He is now a professional screenwriter and has been thriving for the past decade, regularly offering his talents to production studios in LA, Chicago, Milwaukee, and internationally in Sydney and Poland. He’s provided content for Amazon Prime, Netflix, and several YouTube partners. His films have screened internationally, and his stageplays have been performed across the country. In the last ten years, he has directed 57 films, 23 episodes of his series The One Minute Rewatch, 300+ episodes of podcasts, and his multi-award-winning short film Screen: Righter screened at the Festival de Cannes in 2016. He has released two feature films, The Princess Knight and A Christmas Sunset. He thrives on collaboration and the thrill of sharing stories in all forms.
Frank Calvillo (Highly Suspect Reviews, Screener Squad)
Born and raised in South Texas, Frank currently lives in Austin and has been in love with movies ever since his father showed him some Three Stooges shorts when he was five years old. Today he loves all kinds of film, regardless of era, country, budget or genre. He believes every film has an audience and is at least one person’s favorite movie. After writing for Sight & Sound and Slackerwood, he now writes for Cinapse where his increasingly random taste in all flavors of cinema (from Rashomon to Mars Attacks!) continues to thrive. His ultimate goal is to write a script for his boyhood crush, Michelle Pfeiffer.
Rose Mattox (Screener Squad, Eye On The Prize)
Originally hailing from Austin then Houston, Rose has been an avid movie and TV fanatic pretty much since birth. She spends spending her days watching Star Trek reruns, 60’s spy fiction, and Audrey Hepburn movies with her beloved minion (see: dog Riley). She also occasionally dabbles in comedy, screenwriting, as well as graphic and interior design. Rose has been contributing to One of Us since 2019 as a member of the Screener Squad, as well as making regular appearances on Eye on the Prize during awards season. She can be found on Twitter at @nightattheopera.
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