'Relationship Goals' Review: Kelly Rowland & Method Man are Charming in Prime Video's New Rom-Com
A feel-good movie blending career rivalry, faith, love, and friendship
There’s something very cathartic and comforting when a rom-com understands what it’s meant to do then decides to take it a step further. Prime Video’s Relationship Goals—currently sitting comfortably in the U.S Top 10—walks in with charm, confidence, and a soundtrack that gets you out of your seat. But what keeps you coming back for more is the cozy comfort-food must watch story that has something silent, yet more meaningful, just beneath the surface.
Immediately after pressing play, the theme music and immediate introduction of the core friend group set the tone for a film that is upbeat, charming, fun, adventurous, and with a side of shade. Before the first scene fully settles, you’re already invested.
Created by Michael Todd, written by Michael Elliott, Cory Tynan, and Laura Lekkos, directed by Linda Mendoza, and produced by DeVon Franklin, the film follows TV producer Leah Caldwell (Kelly Rowland) as she fights to become the first woman running New York’s top morning show. The complication? Her ex, Jarrett Roy (Cliff “Method Man” Smith), is competing for the same position.
Here’s where the movie quietly pivots from career rivalry to something deeper.
What initially masks itself as a film about a woman with over a decade of experience competing against a man with zero morning show experience (yet still getting considered because…well…he’s a man) reveals itself to be a story about finding power in love and in your life’s work without sacrificing one for the other.
That distinction matters, and the film knows it.
Kelly Rowland’s Comedic Era is Officially Here
The biggest revelation of the film—although it shouldn’t be a surprise—is how funny Kelly Rowland is. Not “oh that was cute” funny. Or even “that must’ve been the writing” funny. Kelly is comedically locked in, bringing so much life and vibrancy from script to screen. In other words, that’s talent.
Kelly’s timing is natural and confident as her real-life personality seamlessly translates to her portrayal of Leah—not just in line delivery but even in the physical aspects of the performance. She understands what many comedic veterans do—a rom-com only works when you understand the balance between comedy and emotional vulnerability without leaning too far in one direction or the other.
In contrast, but still threading the needle of comedy, Cliff brings charming chaos to Jarret that makes his obnoxious, and hilarious, attempts at a truce all the more endearing. As Jarret and Leah share more and more space on the screen, you see the deeper story unfold right before your eyes, turning something light and quirky into a quiet revelation.
Redemption takes root, giving space for Relationship Goals to become more than a love story. It forces you to be patient, to earn the final payoff of “happily ever after” through real scenarios that get in the way for all of us. And that is where the film takes off.
Friendship and Sisterhood the Heart of the Film
The ensemble doubles down on the core themes of the film, adding to the narrative to create a richer story:
Robin Thede (Brenda) navigates a relationship that’s stalled
Annie Gonzalez (Treese) tries to survive modern dating in a sea of dead fish
Ryan Jamaal Swain (Roland) is Leah’s scene-stealing assistant who toggles between hyper-competent professional and brutally honest best friend
This is where Relationship Goals truly hits the mark. The supporting stories are not just backdrops to prop the central storyline. Their lives and their journeys matter, making this a full-bodied depiction of the working woman seeking romance. Leah, Treese, and Brenda representing different phases of dating yet encountering the same stalling point: the greater the ambition, the greater the impending fear of lifelong loneliness.
Faith, Intentional Dating, and “Fixing Your Aim”
Jarrett’s big studio pitch—produce a Valentine’s Day special centering Michael Todd’s book Relationship Goals: How to Win at Dating, Marriage, and Sex—becomes the focal point of the story. Their boss Dan (Matt Walsh) uses this opportunity as the defining test to see who to give the morning show position to and assigns Jarrett and Leah (to her chagrin) as co-producers on the project.
In true rom-com fashion, Leah finds this idea absurd while Jarrett genuinely sees this as an opportunity for many people to explore their views on love and partnership through the examples in this book.
The book’s philosophy blends:
Intentional dating
Internal self-work and building self-worth
Faith and personal accountability
With all these qualities, the film perfectly frames this central question:
“What if all the things you think you want are actually holding you back?”
Not just in love, but in career and identity.
What if your endless lists are keeping you from the happiness you’re meant to have because you’ve boxed yourself into a hyper-curated version of who society says you should be?
A Film That Goes Back to Its Roots
The representation and sisterhood here feel like an homage to early-2000s Black rom-coms. And yes, that lineage matters:
Two Can Play That Game (2001)
Brown Sugar (2002)
Deliver Us from Eva (2003)
Phat Girlz (2006)
Just Wright (2010)
Relationship Goals proudly joins that legacy—and it does so with a Black woman at the enter, surrounded by women (and men) of color navigating career, love, grief, and friendship.
That matters the most and the movie treats it accordingly.
A Soft Heart Beneath the Laughter
The emotional core quietly lives in Leah’s relationship with Papa Jim (Dennis Haysbert), still carrying the grief of losing her mother. That grief becomes the stone in the walls she built to protect herself from love—and from loss.
And here’s where the movie makes a smart choice:
Love is not delivered as an ultimatum.
It’s presented to the characters as an intentional choice, the nucleus of that choice being agency and autonomy. The characters have the option to walk away, to give us an ending that isn’t all flowers, balloons, and wedding bells. But it also provides the characters space to take a leap of faith to get that and more. Both endings are valid, and both are powerfully presented in this film, reflecting the conundrum we face in real life when it comes to navigating our love lives.
That is the real victory.
Final Thoughts
Relationship Goals ultimately is a feel-good rom-com with humor and charm anchored in friendship, faith, redemption, and the freedom to define happiness on your own terms. Now that is a love story we all deserve to enjoy.
Relationship Goals is available to stream now only on Prime Video.
© Kivonshe | So There’s That
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