Jennifer Lopez’s new Netflix rom-com is surprisingly filthy – thank god

Netflix’s NSFW Office Romance has given Jennifer Lopez her best rom-com in over a decade – and God bless her writer and co-star, Brett Goldstein, for understanding a bit of a raunchy reboot was needed.

JLo has long been considered the queen of the genre thanks to noughties classics like Maid in Manhattan and The Wedding Planner but, let’s face it, it’s been a while since any of the newer ones made a real mark.

Owen Wilson was lovely foil to her in the perfectly serviceable Marry Me from 2022, with early 2023 bringing us the perfectly agreeable Shotgun Wedding with Josh Duhamel. That was the last time we saw her in her frothy romance element and the plot details for both are… hazy in my memory already.

This will not be the fate of Office Romance, however, with Goldstein overhauling the usual fluffily forgettable material surrounding its glamorous leading lady for wanking jokes, an erection gag and a litany of c-bombs, not to mention an eye-popping glimpse of a vagina during labour.

It sounds far more like the sort of crudeness you’d get in lads’ movie, but I promise you it works. Goldstein and co-writer Joe Kelly know that, alongside that, goes tender handholding, a steamy-windowed ode to Titanic and public declarations of love. Those necessary beats of a rom-com are properly honoured.

Everything just comes across a tiny bit more realistically (well, as far as a glossy romance between two rich and attractive actors does) – and certainly more enjoyably – than a JLo rom-com has done in a hot minute.

Lopez plays Jackie, the workaholic CEO of Air Cruz, with Goldstein as her company lawyer, Daniel Blanchflower, who steps in to work alongside her on a lawsuit when his boss Peter (Bradley Whitford) is incapacitated.

We first meet them both at parallel dinners, where Daniel has a drunken date who calls him a p***y for not kissing the lip she split falling off the table, while Jackie deals with a business associate who confesses he’s still masturbating over his ex-wife. Cringingly awful for them both.

But seeing Lopez in this more self-deprecating setting is a breath of fresh air. She’s in the position of power now, as befits her status and age, but she’s also existing in a new universe where her airline founder father’s nickname for her means ‘little fatty’.

Office Romance isn’t delusional as to her charms though; not only does she make Daniel tongue-tied, but it’s also plainly stated that any fraternisation between the pair (strictly against company policy) would be ‘like Helen of Troy having sex with Mr. Bean’.

Curiously, when it comes to the actual sex scenes is the only time that Office Romance holds back, going a little coy with its fade to black – which may disappoint a few fans.

Lopez and Goldstein’s chemistry is fun though – especially when it’s revealed Jackie has a little British kink – and undeniable. (And it’s been rumoured the co-stars had a fling after filming in real life.)

But outside the main couple, it’s the side characters that shine as truly exceptional in this genre. Not a surprise, given Goldstein’s previous pedigree with Shrinking and Ted Lasso, famous for some of the most lovable supporting characters in TV history.

Jackie’s ball-breaking PA Sydney (Betty Gilpin) all but steals the movie with her aggressive suspicion of the couple and brutal dismissal of Daniel: I can only aspire to her level of righteous yet no-nonsense fury.

Meanwhile Jodie Whittaker is a riot in her cameo as Daniel’s jailbird sister, while Tony Hale mops up every morsel of possible humour as Air Cruz’s harried HR manager (you must watch beyond the end for one of the most brilliant mid-credit scenes I can remember).

Welcome back to our queen, giving us the rom-com that we – and she – deserve. Praise be!

Office Romance is streaming from today exclusively on Netflix.

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