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Relationship Goals review (2026)

Jeffrey Lyles , , , , , , ,

Relationship Goals feels like an underachieving rom com. Its cast is engaging enough and the premise is solid, but it never fully comes together to reach the ideal benchmark of being a can’t miss new entry in the genre.

It isn’t helped by the easy comparison audiences will draw to Think Like a Man, the 2012 rom com adaptation of Steve Harvey’s bestselling book.

In that same spirit, Relationship Goals writers Michael Elliott (Justin Wright), Laura Lekkos and Cory Tynan concoct a story around Michael Todd’s Relationship Goals 2020 self-help book. Think Like a Man played out like a fun battle of the sexes with the book serving as the guidelines for the rules of engagement. Here, the book just feels like a constant ad that can’t be skipped and adds little organically to the film.

Kelly Rowland (My Fault) plays Leah Caldwell, a morning show producer who’s in line to replace her mentor, Dan (Matt Walsh), as the showrunner.

Leah has no reason to doubt the promotion is a lock until Dan breaks the news that the network wants another candidate to be considered — her ex, Jarrett Roy (Method Man, Shadow Force) — who just out of his night shift contract and is a valued free agent in the industry.

Jarrett arrived with plenty of fanfare and curiously gets an office with a nameplate, which seems like a weird interview process. Leah already harbors bitter feelings after Jarrett cheated on her many years ago so she is not pleased he could also steal her dream gig.

relationship goals review - leah and jarrett at church service

When Dan wants a fresh approach for the big Valentine’s Day feature, Jarrett suggests spotlighting Todd and his book and how it’s changing how people view relationship goals. Sure, it’s a hokey way to promote the book, but it firms up two subplots for Leah’s best friends.

Morning anchor Brenda (Robin Thede) starts to question if her longtime relationship to her basketball boyfriend, Ayden (DeVaughn Nixon), will ever lead to a proposal. Makeup artist Treese (Annie Gonzalez) is also wondering if her swipe dating mindset is what’s led to her habitually single status.

As Relationship Goals plays out, those subplots start to become the more compelling stories. In the case of Brenda and Ayden, there’s a legit question if that wouldn’t have been the more compelling main story instead of a subplot.

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That’s not the fault of Rowland and Method Man, who gamely chip away at their story, but the writing doesn’t lean into their natural charisma. Leah comes off as cold and uncompromising while Jarrett comes off as a pitch man for a book and by extension, his renewed faith.

Jarrett needed a bit of an edge to show that proudly proclaiming one’s faith can be cool, instead in Relationship Goals it just comes off as corny. Eventually, when Leah warms up to the idea that Jarrett has actually changed for the better, Relationship Goals settles into the movie it should have been much earlier.

The problem is that comes long past the halfway mark making for a rushed and unrealistic — even by rom com standards — breakup scenario and the unearned reconciliation. Bonus points if you can guess what overused location that occurs?

relationship goals review - leah and jarrett

Director Linda Mendoza (Grown-ish) stages enough enjoyable scenes that it feels a likely bet that she will excel in the rom com genre after a lengthy career working on comedy specials and sitcom episodes.

Relationship Goals is a decent start for Mendoza, but she would fix some of the pacing issues, fine tune some of the subplots that needed tweaking and make an overall tighter rom com with a few more cracks at the genre.

Rating: 5.5 out of 10

Photo Credit: Amazon

Check out Relationships Goals on Amazon Prime.

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