The Netflix MA 15+ rated romantic comedy premiered on June 5th. Office Romance stars Jennifer Lopez and Brett Goldstein. The movie centers around the CEO of an airline company, Jackie (Lopez), and one of the companies lawyers, Daniel (Goldstein). They both know that entering a relationship could cost both of them their jobs, but they also know they can’t keep ignoring the chemistry between them.This list is for people who are looking for another workplace romance to binge!
1. Set It Up
Another Netflix original, starring Zoey Deutch and Glen Powell, Set It Up is about two assistants who scheme to get their demanding bosses together. Their love story is heavily centered around the fact that they work in the same building, meaning a lot of the movie involves seeing them interact at work. Harper (Deutch), an aspiring sports journalist, and Charlie (Powell), an aspiring finance bro, are always the last two people to leave their respective offices.
In the hopes that love will soften both of their bosses, they decide to work together to set them up. This blossoms into a very beautiful and heartfelt friendship that has the audience rooting for them. This movie favors sweetness over spice while still giving us plenty of chemistry and tension between the romantic leads.
Watch here: Netflix
2. The Office
This show is perfect for you if you are looking for a laugh-out-loud show to binge and love the office-romance-trope. In case it is not clear from the title, this show also takes place in an office. The main romance in the show involves Pam (Jenna Fisher) and Jim (John Krasinski) who are both employees at the Dunder Mifflin Paper Company. Pam is an office manager who is engaged to be married and Jim is a salesman and her best friend.
From the beginning, we know that Jim is desperately in love with Pam. If you enjoyed the level of yearning in Office Romance, you will get that and much more from these two and a few other characters. Without spoiling too much, theirs is not the only iconic workplace-romance seen in the show. We get to watch quite a few love stories develop in the Scranton branch of Dunder Mifflin. Not only does this show feature romantic love, but we get to see some amazing and funny platonic love stories grow in the 9 seasons of this series. However, Jim and Pam remain a fan favorite among sitcom lovers.
Watch here: Peacock
3. The Hating Game
For those of you who appreciate a good enemies-to-lovers story, this is perfect movie for you. This movies see’s Lucy Hale in the role of Lucy and Austin Stowell in the role of Josh. The story revolves around Lucy (Hale) and Josh (Stowell), co-workers and rivals, who are fighting for a promotion while also fighting their mutual attraction to one another.
Similar to the lead couple in Office Romance the chemistry between these two characters is so intense that they struggle to keep their hands off each other (even in the workplace)! For all its spice, the movie is also incredibly heartwarming. Like Office Romance, we get to see moments of vulnerability between the characters. Lucy and Josh’s initial animosity towards one another begins to thaw into something more, something that makes the audience fall in love with this story.
Watch here: Prime Video
4. Ted Lasso
This is the perfect show if you want to see more of Brett Goldstein! The Emmy Award winning show is a comedy about an American football coach, Ted Lasso (Jason Sudekis), who moves to England to coach a soccer team. In the show, Goldstein plays the iconic Roy Kent, a character vastly different from Office Romance‘s Daniel. While his character is not necessarily a romantic lead, his character is a part of the shows main romantic love story; Roy and Keeley. Roy is a grumpy soccer player and Keeley is the perky ex-girlfriend of his rival teammate.
Over the 3 season course of this show, we watch their relationship blossom in a way that is sweet and grounded and maybe a little different then what we see from most television couples. Not only is Goldstein one of the lead actors in both projects, but he was also a writer for Ted Lasso and co-wrote the script for Office Romance! If you are worried about getting attached to a show that is only 3 seasons, fear not! The fourth season of Ted Lasso will be released in August!
Watch here: Apple TV
5. Marry Me
Jennifer Lopez has a lot of experience in the romantic comedy world. While she has starred in many iconic roles for classic romcoms, fans of Office Romance will appreciate one of her more recent romantic comedies: Marry Me. This movie is about a pop-star, Kat (Lopez), and a single-dad, Charlie (Owen Wilson), who enter an abrupt marriage of convenience.
Like many romantic comedy characters before them, these are two people who have struggled with love and been hurt before. However, just like Jackie and Daniel, Kat and Charlie find someone who makes them want to try again. This might not feature the workplace-romance trope, but it does feature some other favorite tropes such as Charlies sweet, protectiveness of Kat and Kats revenge on her ex, another beloved trope. Her performance as Jackie is one Lopez’ best, showing us the full extent of her talent and under-rated comedic skills. Everything she brings to the role of Jackie, she also brings to the role of Kat.
Watch here: Netflix
Hopefully, this list has covered all of your favorite parts of the movie. Not many people have cracked the code to creating a romantic comedy that lives up to the classics, but this movie is one of the few that has. The film is a genuinely funny romantic comedy, featuring a raunchier tone of humor than often seen in the genre. It also gives us two characters who we want to root for and watch fall in love.
Office Romance is a love letter to classic romantic comedies and the workplace-romance genre. Standing on the shoulders of all the hilarious, swoon-worthy films and tv shows before it, Office Romance is a true credit to the genre.
