BAD MATCH (2017) ** ½

I hate the term “guilty pleasure”, because like Keith Richards always said, “If something gives you pleasure, you shouldn’t feel guilty”.  However, I do have an affinity for cheesy From Hell movies.  Nowadays, these kinds of films wind up as filler on the Lifetime Channel, but it’s good to know you can still find new ones while perusing Netflix.  

Bad Match plays like a version of Fatal Attraction that’s been updated for the Tinder generation.  Fatal Attraction was of course, the Girlfriend from Hell.  Bad Match is the Internet Hook-Up from Hell.

Harris (Jack Cutmore-Scott) is a serial dater who uses dating apps for quick hook-ups.  His latest conquest, Riley (Lili Simmons) winds up falling hard for him.  When he spurns her affections, she concocts an elaborate fake suicide to get back at him.  Soon after, Harris’ Twitter feed gets hacked, and he gets fired for sending obscene Tweets.  Harris thinks she’s gone too far, but when a bunch of child porn is downloaded onto his computer, he gets in trouble with the cops.  He then goes to stop Riley once and for all.

Bad Match is not a comedy, but it is often very funny.  It has a knowing sense of humor, or at the very least knows the plot ain’t Shakespeare.  Some of the dialogue is good for a laugh.  My favorite line was when Harris tries to sneak out of bed after sleeping with an internet conquest.  When she asks him why he’s leaving, he says, “Yeah, I have undiagnosed restless-leg syndrome…”

All of this is more or less fun for about an hour or so, but the third act where Harris tries to turn the tables on Riley just goes on far too long.  Maybe it would’ve worked if the big twist at the end wasn’t so predictable.  Since we know what’s coming at the end, it makes the conclusion feel more like a twisted shaggy dog story than anything else.

Cutmore-Scott gives a winning performance.  Even though his character is a player, he is often quite funny and charming, even when he’s being a complete dick.  He’s kind of like an asshole version of Chris Pratt.  Cutmore-Scott’s so charismatic that he makes Bad Match fun to watch, even when it starts heading into heavily cliched territory.  Simmons isn’t quite as good, but she goes through all the psycho motions well enough.  One thing is for sure, I wouldn’t mind seeing them reunited in a Craigslist-centered remake of Single White Female.