TL;DR – An interesting concept that is held back by deeply unlikable characters.     
Score – 2.5 out of 5 stars

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene

Review –

I should open this up with the clear proviso that I am not the target audience for this film so that might have had a big impact on my enjoyment or lack therefore of. However, I really struggled with this film from the start until maybe the last ten minutes.

So to set the scene, Ana (Cassandra Ciangherotti) is the last of her friends/cousins to get married, but that is okay because she is in a long term relationship with her boyfriend Gabriel (Pablo Cruz). Well she was right up until he dumped her in the middle of a wedding. Well, during the middle of the alcohol drinking stage of her break up she discovers her ‘less attractive’ cousin Tamara (Lucía Uribe Bracho) is also getting married. After an altercation, Tamara gives her the details and she shows up not quite ready for what is about to happen.

The first major issue is that the main character is just completely un-sympathetic by being possibly the most selfish protagonist I have ever seen in a film before. It is one of the tropes in romantic-comedies that the antagonist is someone with some kind of hang-up that they work on throughout the film, for example, Sandra Bullock’s character being a workaholic in The Proposal. The trope itself is one that is really tired and drawn out, but it is made worse when the film goes out of its way to show the character to be almost the worst.

Indeed, there are few good people in this film at all. The instructor of the workshops plays into all the old-timey concepts about women and their place in the world. The men she meets are all awful, her ex is a sleaze, her parents hate each other, and so on. It is a real struggle to find anyone to back in this film.

The maybe one exception to this is the group of women she meets in the workshop. They are all positive and interesting characters. However, the film is structured in such a way as to really limit their involvement. At the start, Ana is reluctant to take part and by the time she warms up to them she starts dating Diego (Juan Pablo Medina), so they get pushed to the back burner. There is this moment at the end of the film at a wedding when they are all chatting about their lives, and I could not help but think that this was the more interesting film that we didn’t get to see. All of this is a shame because when they are focussing on the group of women the film has some of its few really interesting moments. Like when they are all on a group phone call and it might be the best framing of that scenario that I have seen since maybe Scott Pilgrim.     

In the end, do we recommend Solteras/Ready to Mingle? Sorry but no. Unfortunately, while there are some good moments in the film. The lack of any interesting characters is a real deal-breaker. If you are looking for a good rom-com there are a lot of choices for you on Netflix, I’m just not sure that this one is worth your time.       

By Brian MacNamara: You can follow Brian on Twitter Here, when he’s not chatting about Movies and TV, he’ll be talking about International Relations, or the Solar System.

Have you watched Ready to Mingle?, let us know what you thought in the comments below, feel free to share this review on any of the social medias and you can follow us Here. Check out all our past reviews and articles Here, and have a happy day. 

Credits – All images were created by the cast, crew, and production companies of Ready to Mingle
Directed by – Luis Javier Henaine
Written by – Luis Javier Henaine & Alejandra Olvera Avila
Music by – Andrés Sánchez & Dan Zlotnik
Cinematography by – Glauco Bermudez
Edited by – Jorge Macaya     
Production/Distribution Companies – Moonlight Pictures & Netflix
Starring – Cassandra Ciangherotti, Gabriela de la Garza, Irán Castillo, Sophie Alexander-Katz, Flor Eduarda Gurrola, Mariana Cabrera, Juan Pablo Medina, Pablo Cruz, Diana Bovio, Andrés Almeida, Mar Carrera, Leonardo Daniel, Lucía Uribe Bracho, Tatiana del Real, Francisco de la Reguera, Dobrina Cristeva, Cesar Rodriguez, Luis Arrieta, Alexander Leterni, Ricardo Reynaud, Rafael Simón, Ernesto Coronel, Mario Alberto Monroy, J.C. Montes-Roldan, José Grim, Paulina Olvera, Salvador Petrola & José María Bourdillon
Rating – Around an Australia: MA15+;