The Valet (2022)

What makes The Valet special is how it takes a tabloid-ready rom-com setup and quietly fills it with real warmth, letting the laughs land while the characters still feel like people you could know. Eugenio Derbez is effortlessly winning as Antonio, a hardworking guy suddenly shoved into celebrity chaos, and Samara Weaving gives Olivia a surprisingly human edge beneath the movie-star gloss, so their chemistry feels earned rather than manufactured. The tone stays breezy and crowd-pleasing, but it also has a big heart for family, community, and the awkward class divide between red carpets and real life. If you’re allergic to rom-com contrivances you’ll see the gears turning, but if you want something funny, sweet, and genuinely charming, this one delivers.

The Valet is clearly aiming for a feel-good rom-com with a side of class commentary, using the fake-dating setup to put a working-class dad and a glamorous movie star in the same messy spotlight. When it works, Eugenio Derbez brings warmth and decency, and the film has a few genuinely sweet, human moments that make you want to root for everyone to grow up a bit. But it also tries to carry too many themes at once, so the pacing can drag, the comedy often lands softly, and the romance doesn’t always feel as sharp or as earned as the premise promises. If you’re expecting big laughs or a tightly written, punchy modern rom-com, you may find it bland and overlong; if you’re happy with gentle charm and low-stakes comfort viewing, it’ll do the job.