Diksha Sundriyal
Directed by Tosca Musk, ‘The Matchmaker’s Playbook’ follows the unlikely romance between a girl and the guy who is coaching her to woo her crush. It begins with Ian Hunter, who is forced to retire from football due to an injury and returns to college to pursue a business venture. The idea is to help shy, unconfident women overcome their barriers and get the guys they have only dreamed of. A major rule in this endeavor is never to fall in love with a client, but Ian breaks it when Blake employs his services to woo her childhood crush, David. The film presents a series of romantic and dramatic events that are highly fictional. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Ian Hunter and Wingmen, Inc. are Fictional Plot Points
‘The Matchmaker’s Playbook’ is an entirely fictional tale created by author Rachel Van Dyken, whose novel serves as the source material for the movie. The character of Ian Hunter and his dating service, Wingmen, Inc., has no connection to reality. There is a real dating app called Wingman that lets a person’s friends and family play matchmaker for them. However, the real-life app has no connection to the one presented in the movie. In fact, it was another fictional film that may have influenced their creation. Van Dyken has stated that the idea for the book developed during a conversation with her editor. When she pitched the concept of a man helping women land their dream partners, her editor immediately referred her to Will Smith’s, ‘Hitch.’
The 2005 rom-com follows a similar premise, with Smith’s character helping men to woo the women they love. Van Dyken, however, was more interested in exploring the concept from the point of view of a man whose only reason for helping his clients is that he genuinely wants to help and wishes to see them win in life. In the movie, Ian tells Blake that he got the idea for the dating service after seeing his sister settle for less because she lacked the confidence to get what she deserved. He saw that many other great women were riddled with the same problem, so he decided to help them. So, for him, the idea isn’t just to get the guy, but to help his clients become more confident and self-assured in the process.
The book’s author revealed that the intention was to present this as a positive thing that Ian wants to do, reflecting his core nature as a helpful and caring person. When Nick Bateman was cast in the role of Ian, he had barely three days to prepare. To get inside the character’s mindset, he watched movies like ‘Hitch’ and ‘Crazy, Stupid, Love.’ He also noted the character’s sense of sarcasm and referred to Ryan Reynolds and his characters. Apart from presenting Ian’s funny and sarcastic side, he also focused on portraying him as a layered person who hides more depth beneath his facade. At the end of the day, the idea was to present a fun story about two people falling in love. The unlikely pairing and the fake-dating trope create more space for drama and conflict, giving the audience a dreamy, albeit fictional, romance.
Read More: The Matchmaker’s Playbook Ending Explained: Do Ian and Blake End Up Together?
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