Girlfriend’s Day is the Netflix Original movie we have all been waiting for. Bob Odenkirk (Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul) stars as Ray Wentworth. Once a king in the cutthroat world of greeting cards, he is now a down-on-his-luck card writer. In an effort to recapture the feelings that once made him the “Bill Shakespeare of romance cards,” he gets entangled in a web of murder and deceit as writers vie to create the perfect card for a newly crowned holiday.
Netflix seem to finally be on the right path, giving us an original movie worth watching. It seems like so far they have been throwing a lot of stuff at the wall and just seeing what sticks. (We have certainly seen what didn’t stick. I’m looking at you, Adam Sandler. Pull yourself together man.) But it was starting the feel like the were just churning out movies for the sake of it.
Yes. On a rainy day you probably will watch Adam Sandler get kicked in the nether regions by a horse, think it’s funny, and maybe even enjoy it (although you wouldn’t admit it). But are you going to tell your friends how great it was? Word of mouth is essential and should not be underestimated. Water cooler talk is what keeps people coming back to your product. We saw that challenge affect Chelsea Handler’s show last year. The word didn’t seem to really get around about her show until the Stranger Things kids appeared. Then it blew up.
Netflix has been stumbling. Making phenomenal series, but for the most part C- movies. They even look a little cheap. I got my hopes up with I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House. Then they dropped Clinical on us. We have been getting quantity over quality. And that isn’t a good thing.
I know that in the past, other movies such as the award-magnet drama Beasts of No Nation and the highly publicized Leo doc have gotten more attention and nominations, but they don’t exactly appeal to a broad audience. This is something lighter. It has an Indie feeling with brand name actors and quality sets.
If they’re going to keep pouring money into these projects, they need to be of a particular grade to merit the expense. A series keeps you coming back and it’s easier to justify the cost over the long term because it keeps more people engaged over a longer period of time. More time = more money spent by people keeping their subscriptions.
It looks like they are finally inching towards that light at the end of the tunnel and a meet in the middle ground of Original Series versus Original Movie quality.
