Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Can You Keep a Secret?’ on Netflix, Where Alexandra Daddario And Tyler Hoechlin Have An Office Flirtation

Based on the novel by Sophie Kinsella, Can You Keep a Secret? stars Alexandra Daddario as Emma Corrigan, a marketing representative who, after a disastrous business meeting in Chicago, drowns her sorrows in way too much champagne on the flight back to New York and reacts to some major turbulence by baring her soul in embarrassing detail to her seatmate (Tyler Hoechin). Upon returning to the office, she quickly discovers that her former seatmate is actually Jack Harper, the CEO of her company, a fact which horrifies her as much as it bemuses him.

CAN YOU KEEP A SECRET: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

The Gist: Emma is a hard-working employee who struggles to be noticed amongst her louder and/or more eccentric coworkers, but she’s arguably struggling even more in her personal life, sharing an apartment with her best friend, Lissy (Sunita Mani), and the self-obsessed Gemma (Kimiko Glenn) while just barely tolerating her boyfriend, Connor (David Ebert), who loves jazz and apparently isn’t a fan of wearing pants at home. As such, it’s easy to imagine a scenario where she falls for Jack and – given how well he accepts all of the things she revealed to him on the flight – it’s clear that it won’t be hard for him to fall for her.

Ah, but how easy will it be for him to open up to her about everything in his life? Aye, there’s the rub…and that’s not to speak of how difficult it’s going to be for a low-level marketing rep to make an impression in the workplace without everyone immediately jumping to the conclusion that her success is due to the fact that she’s slipped into a relationship with the CEO. (Not that we’re in any way suggestion that this is the case, mind you. We just know how these sorts of movies tend to go.) Thankfully, she has a supportive boss in Cybill (Laverne Cox), but that’s only going to get her so far if she can’t stand up for herself and prove her worth.

What Movies Will It Remind You Of?: Bridget Jones’s Diary is the first one that leaps to mind, but there are a plethora of workplace rom-coms that leap to mind, if only in general terms, like – just to name a few at random – Working Girl or Two Weeks Notice, except not as good.

Performance Worth Watching: This is 100% Hoechlin’s movie. He’s charming from the get-go, you know without question that he’s going to come through in the end, and… Well, let’s just say there’s a reason he’s Superman.

Memorable Dialogue: “No one has any goddamned idea what love is on this entire planet,” says Emma, which is 100% laughable, since there’s no question from the moment that she and Jack meet on the plane that they’re going to end up madly in love by the time the credits roll.

Sex and Skin: For better or worse, the only outright nudity in the film belongs to Connor, who proudly strolls around his apartment with his decidedly hairy ass hanging out.

Our Take: As wonderful as Hoechlin may be throughout the film, Daddario is handed a tremendous number of embarrassing scenes which range in effect from “ouch, that’s not good” to “I may need to leave the room for a moment.” They do have a certain amount of chemistry, but it’s a far greater struggle to see what he sees in her than what she sees in him.

In addition, the inevitable “trouble in paradise” scene that ostensibly causes Emma’s happily-ever-after ending with Jack to be put into question is a complete tonal misfire, with Emma treating a TV interview done by Jack to be a complete betrayal even as most viewers will look at Jack’s face and realize that, if anything, it’s a testament to how much he cares for Emma.

Our Call: It’s certainly not the best rom-com we’ve seen recently, and it’s definitely frustrating at times, but just for Hoechlin’s performance alone, we still say STREAM IT.

Will Harris (@NonStopPop) has a longstanding history of doing long-form interviews with random pop culture figures for the A.V. Club, Vulture, and a variety of other outlets, including Variety. He’s currently working on a book with David Zucker, Jim Abrahams, and Jerry Zucker. (And don’t call him Shirley.)