Good on Paper

Good on Paper is a 2021 American romantic comedy film, directed by Kimmy Gatewood in her directorial debut, from a screenplay by Iliza Shlesinger.

At the airport on the way home from an audition in New York City, Andrea meets Dennis Kelley when he returns her missing boarding pass.

After a gig at The Comedy Store, Dennis asks Andrea to be his girlfriend over an expensive dinner his credit card is declined to pay, but she isn't interested.

On Friday night, Dennis interrupts Andrea's date to spend time with him under the pretense that his mother is dying of cancer.

The film originated from a real-life incident involving Shlesinger, which she turned into a stand-up routine called "Lying Brian" in 2015 that was broadcast on This Is Not Happening on Comedy Central.

In Shlesinger's comedic routine, she tells of meeting a man named Brian on an airplane who claimed to be a Yale graduate and worked at a hedge fund.

Shlesinger's mother was suspicious of his background,[1] finding that he went to the University of Ohio[a] and that he lived in a duplex in Hollywood and not a house in Beverly Hills.

[2] In April 2020, it was reported that Iliza Shlesinger had completed the film in a lead role, with Kimmy Gatewood directing, with Universal Pictures distributing.

The website's critical consensus reads, "Writer-star Iliza Shlesinger finds some laughs in real-life romantic travails, but Good on Paper makes an overall awkward transition from stand-up to screen.

[7] Decider called it an anti-rom-com and wrote: "A solid premise and Shlesinger and Hansen's unconventional chemistry make it more than worth your while.