Nobody Wants This Review – Adam Brody, Kristen Bell In a RomCom We Need
Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)
“Is she Jewish at all?”
“There is not a single Jewish bone in her body. Unless, you put one in her.”
“Shh…”
Ashley (Sherry Cola) plays cupid for Rabbi Noah Roklov (Adam Brody) and the atheist/agnostic podcaster Joanne (Kristen Bell). While the rabbi is up for a big promotion at his church, Joanne hosts a show about sex and relationships with her sister Morgan (Justine Lupe) called ‘Nobody Wants This’. So, almost everybody views the blossoming romance between the Rabbi and the non-religious podcaster as ‘weird’, or a joke that will end soon. However, despite their contrasting lives, upbringing, and widely different emotional baggage, Noah and Joanne have the best time together.
Created by Erin Foster, the Netflix romantic comedy ‘Nobody Wants This’ is loosely inspired by Erin’s own life – she is married to a Jewish entrepreneur. When Netflix first dropped its trailer, I assumed it would be a movie, but it works so much better as a ten episode mini-series, giving its key characters just enough space to grow on you and make the show entertaining as hell.
The pilot episode starts with a low-key hilarious scene where Joanne ghosts a date and goes home with her sister to rant about how boring he was on their podcast. Meanwhile, Noah gets a slightly more serious introduction scene, with an awkward conversation with his longtime girlfriend Rebecca (Emily Arlook) for not respecting his privacy, leading to a break-up. Nine minutes into the first episode, Joanne and Noah meet at mutual friend Ashley’s party, they instantly bond as Noah helps Joanne open a bottle of wine, while casually joking about how they both love getting attention (because Joanne comes dressed in a gigantic furry coat you can see from Mars).
That’s where “Nobody Wants This” really shines best – the fun banter between its characters, the witty dialogues, and the relatable family dynamics (even though quite a few characters aren’t likable at all). Adam Brody and Kirsten Bell’s onscreen chemistry as Noah and Joanne is cute and is amplified to a cheer-worthy level due to their direct, flirty-zesty interactions. Timothy Simons is super likable as Sasha, Noah’s older brother who helps their father run the family business, and always has his brother’s back. Sasha’s bossy wife Esther (Jackie Tohn) however is completely against Joanne because Noah’s ex is Esther’s best-friend. Joanne’s love-hate relationship with her sister Morgan is endearing, one minute they are fighting and ignoring each other, the other minute they are dressed to kill and lift each other up at a party where nobody wants them.
I love that I learnt a new term by the very first episode, ‘shiksa’, a Yiddish insult for someone who is a non-Jew, but largely meant for hot blondes, or so Noah explains to Joanne. “Nobody Wants This” is actually rife with some Jewish traditions, terms, even a Bat Mitzvah celebration, but ever overdoes the religion card. Noah is the ‘cool, hot’ Rabbi, who drinks, smokes, often uses the ‘f’ word, and despite dedication to his temple, he is relaxed, laid-back, although also quite the mommy’s boy when it comes to his domineering, outspoken mum Bina Roklov (Tovah Feldshuh), who just won’t stand for him dating a shiksa. In-fact, even Joanna’s sister Morgan finds her crazy-fast moving relationship with Noah absurd. So ‘Nobody Wants This’ is the perfect title for the series, since a LOT of people are against the rabbi dating the non-religious podcaster. Of-course, most of the work falls on Joanne’s shoulders, since she is the one who has a hard time finding acceptance with Noah’s conservative tribe.
The first five episode were excellent, and I thought eventually the pace and mood of the series might dip, but ‘Nobody Wants This’ rarely lets you down, keeping up a steady, delightful tempo till the very end. Noah and Joanna go through a lots of ups and downs, but have a very healthy communication level, something that is almost always sacrificed in romantic shows and movies to throw more drama. But since Noah and Joanna already have enough fights their way due to their cultural and religious differences, they manage to a sturdy, loving team symbolizing ‘us against the world’ phrase. They do address these clashes, not in-depth, thankful at that, because it would’ve just turned the series into a philosophical or religious snooze-fest. No, the writers leave the heavier stuff for other titles.
I haven’t had so much fun watching a Netflix series since “Beef”, even though that’s a completely different genre. ‘Nobody Wants This’ is refreshingly modern, straightforward, and is perhaps a tad bit unrealistic when it comes to exploring a serious relationship between a rabbi and a gentile who doesn’t believe in organized religion, but hey, who is looking for realism in a romantic comedy? Not me! I absolutely loved ‘Nobody Wants This’ and would recommend it to anybody who loves the genre. It’s even got a great soundtrack to boot, featuring tracks by both popular artists (think Dua Lipa, Olivia Rodrigo) and other not so ‘viral’ numbers. The climax avoids the ‘grand gesture’ known to the genre, however, delivers a memorable end which leaves plenty of scope for a season two. I’d watch that too.
Rating: 9 on 10. Stream ‘Nobody Wants This’ on Netflix.
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