Set it Up and 5 other feel-good Netflix movies to watch
By Renee Hansen
We shared a list of six feel-good Netflix movies to watch right now, including Set It Up, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and more!
With many people social distancing, there is only so much you can do around the house, which means everyone will be watching lots of Netflix movies. As much fun as it is to watch thrillers, dramas, and intense films, we do need to give ourselves a bit of a pick-me-up during these days.
Below, we shared a list of what I think are excellent feel-good Netflix movies to keep your spirits up.
Feel-good Netflix movies to stream right now
Set It Up
Set it Up is a perfect movie for this category. Starring Lucy Liu, Zoey Deutch, Taye Diggs, and Glen Powell, this movie is a delightful rom-com.
In the film, Harper (Deutch) and Charlie (Powell) work for two workaholic executives, Kristen (Liu) and Rick (Diggs), respectively. Harper and Charlie’s meet-cute moment sets up some great chemistry and draws us in immediately. Their bosses work very hard and expect nothing less from their assistants, which includes many late nights but not a whole lot of appreciation for the hard work that they do.
They become friends because of the common ground they share, and this friendship builds as they try to set up their bosses, hoping it would bring some relief to their workload if their bosses form a romantic relationship.
There is a refreshing classic feel to this film. The writers didn’t add a lot of unneeded raunchy additions that a lot of films feel they need to add. There is a great character, Creepy Tim, a maintenance man, played by Tituss Burgess, that had some hilarity to the film.
Also, the soundtrack is excellent, which is always a plus in my book.
Give Set It Up a try; I think you will like it.
Always Be My Maybe
Next up is Always Be My Maybe starring Ali Wong, Randall Park, Vivian Bang, and James Saito.
This film is one of my favorite more recent rom-coms, partly because of the hilarity and party because of the fantastic cameo appearance by a popular actor that I am not going to give away here. You will have to watch and find out.
Childhood friends Sasha (Wong) and Marcus (Park) meet again after being apart for 15 years. She is a famous chef who left the bay area for her career. She has recently broken up with her long-time boyfriend after he postpones their wedding again. When she temporarily moves back to the bay, the two reconnect. Marcus is a struggling musician that lives with his widowed father. He is dating a wild gal named Jenney (Bang) who lends some great comedy to the film.
It is an excellent movie about reconnecting and moving on, starring a talented cast and many comedic moments.
Someone Great
Someone Great is another favorite of mine. This film focuses on Jenny, played by Gina Rodriguez, who also produced this film, and her BFFs Blair (Brittany Snow) and Erin (Dewanda Wise). Jenny is on the verge of a cross-country move on the heels of a break-up.
The movie focuses on Jenny’s last NYC adventure with her girls. They, of course, get into all kinds of comical situations in which we get to view how they handle each one. We also get lots of flashbacks of Jenny and her now ex-boyfriend, Nate (Lakeith Stanfield), and what their relationship was like.
Another thing I LOVED about this film was the fashion, especially Erin’s. She is bold without being over the top, and it just fits the character so well.
It is a fun film focusing on heartache, true friendship, love, and finally, feeling like you have entered adulthood.
Falling Inn Love
I put Falling Inn Love on my list when it first released and only watched it recently. I wish I would have watched it sooner. This film stars Christina Milian as Gabriela, a city girl who wins the Bellbird Valley Farm Inn located in New Zealand and travels there with the intent of selling it for a profit.
Unfortunately, it is more of a money pit than was advertised. She then teams up with the nearby town’s most eligible bachelor who also happens to be a restoration expert, Jake (Adam Demos). They decided to have a 50/50 business relationship to fix up and flip the inn.
The film is not only set in New Zealand but was also filmed there. Some scenes take your breath away because they are so beautiful!
In pure rom-com form, there is true love and a jealous girl in town who tries to ruin Gabriela’s plans, the local girl who befriends her as well as the hardware store owner who is enamored of Gabriela because she is the only person who ever gave him a nickname.
It is a cute movie that just gives you so many good feelings. Be sure to watch this one!
Julie and Julia
Julie and Julia is an older film, from 2009, but it is another film that’s just fun to watch. The film stars Amy Adams as writer Julie Powell and Meryl Streep as famous cook Julia Childs. They are accompanied by Chris Messina, who plays Eric Powell, Julie’s husband, and Stanely Tucci, playing Julia’s husband, Paul.
This film follows Julie in 2002 and flashes back to Julia in the 1950s.
Julie is a young writer who is miserable in her current job at the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation’s call center taking calls from 9/11 victims. She loves to cook and decides to make all of the recipes in Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking recipe book from 1961.
Julia decides to attend the famous Le Cordon Blue School of French Cooking and starts to make a cook book.
We get to experience the creation of the cookbook as well as a modern woman making the recipes. Julie, being a writer, blogs her experience thinking this could be her calling that would eventually lead to a book.
It is another one of those feel-good movies that are sure to lift your spirits.
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
This one is a little different from the rest of the list, but Ferris Bueller’s Day Off has to be one of the best feel-good movies ever.
Ferris (Matthew Broderick) is just a kid who wanted to take a day off from school and enjoy life outside of his regular everyday American high school. He drags along his sickly BFF Cameron (Alan Ruck) and, of course, his adorable girlfriend, Sloane (Mia Sara).
He fakes a sickness, and his parents, who dote on him, actually believe him. His sister Jeanie (Jennifer Grey) isn’t buying it and is appalled that her parents would fall for his faking another sickness to get out of school.
Ferris eventually wears Cameron down and convinces him to let them take his dad’s Ferrari that Cameron states his father loves more than Cameron himself.
We follow Ferris and his friends into many fun and sticky situations. We get a wonderful tour through many of Chicago’s most significant sites. We see Sears Tower, the Art Institute, Board of Trade, a game at Wrigley Field, and a parade in the middle of the day.
It is a light-hearted, clean-cut movie that is fun for all. If you haven’t watched, you need to, and if you have, it’s always an excellent go-to movie to lift your spirits.
Keep your spirits up during this time and check all that Netflix and many other streaming services have to offer.