SEVERAL TIMES THROUGHOUT THE PAST, I HAVE mentioned that my dealbreakers for not dating someone were dirty fingernails and bad teeth; unless of course there was a reason for it. In the throughs of the dating world, if a potential partner had ever cheated and broke trust in their past relationships, that was a red flag for me as well and I soon ended our relationship. This dealbreaker did not rise up until after I had been cheated on with a couple of people I was dating. I always thought these three non negotiable items were not out of the ordinary; they simply revealed information to me about the person’s hygiene and morals. My friends never challenged my dealbreakers; in fact, they began to incorporate them into their scorecard for potential dating partners. Now on the other hand, I had a hard time with some of my friends’ dealbreakers. There was one friend who would not date anyone but hairy men, essentially hairy chests, arms and legs. I never understood it and always asked them what they would do if their hairy man, in their committed relationship, got cancer and had to go through chemotherapy, causing their hair to fall out. Some friends had to think about it before answering me. Even when I mentioned there might be a chance that person could go bald as they aged, my friends had to actually stop and think about it.      THERE ARE A COUPLE OF OTHER friends who had height restrictions when it came to potential partners. One friend only wanted to date people who were much taller than themselves. Another friend preferred dates to be close to their height with a variance of only a couple of inches. Even with their answers to my queries, I still did not quite understand what was so important about different heights that would stop them from dating someone they truly liked. Let me add, that there is a strong difference between me and what I have discovered are many other people regarding perspective dates. Except for teeth and fingernails, I never paid attention to a person’s physical features. This could be due because for most of my life, I always wanted to change mine, or because I saw how the human body was constantly changing its appearance, both intentionally and medically. I tried to never judge any of my friends who had firm limitations on the types of people they would date, despite me not understanding; however, I always thought they were restricting themselves unnecessarily. After seeing this romantic, dark comedy I wondered how they would react, let alone myself, if I had been in such a situation.      WHILE OUT WITH ANOTHER COUPLE, AN engaged couple was asked a question that could alter everything about their relationship. With Zendaya (Challengers, Dune franchise) as Emma, Robert Pattinson (Mikey 17, The Batman) as Charlie, Alana Haim (One Battle After Another, Licorice Pizza) as Rachel, Mamoudou Athie (The Circle, Jurassic World: Dominion) as Mike, and Sydney Lemmon (Tar, Love Story-TV) as Pauline; this dramatic comedy scored with casting Zendaya and Robert Pattinson. Their acting and chemistry were perfect in the roles, which made them so believable. I would have appreciated if more time was given to each’s back story; but, in the scheme of things I was too intrigued with the questions being asked and the reactions they caused. At times some things seemed far-fetched, but again I have to stress with the acting and the idea of the story kept my attention throughout the film. The supporting cast was a nice compliment to the engaged couple. Overall, I did not let my minor issues/complaints about the story/script affect my attention and curiosity. 

3 stars