It’s not that Voicemails for Isabelle is bad. If anything, the Netflix rom-com starring Zoey Deutch and Nick Robinson is actually a expertly paced story that has all the girlies on board. There’s the gut-wrenching sister story line, that features Deutch as Jill leaving titular voicemails to her late sister.
Nick Robinson (Maid, Love, Simon) nails yearning as Austin real estate broker Wes. And it has plenty of comedic high notes amidst the prerequisite grief. But while San Francisco gets a fair shake with its depiction of the wharf (no Chonkers in sight though), and fanciful bakeries helmed by mustachioed chefs, Austin natives and visitors alike have a bone to pick with how the capital of the Lone Star State is showcased.
On first watch, the sets have an Austin patina that’s forgivable. The high-rise properties Wes hawks could be anywhere within the downtown area, sure. There’s a packed South Congress-y street during the film’s romantic climax that feels Austin-y enough. But eagle-eyed viewers will noticed a Paramount Theatre that’s too uncanny valley to sit right.
One said viewer, a local filmmaker who graduated from the University of Texas at Austin’s radio, television and film program took to social to sound off on the Cap City mess.
Jason Habel, 51, pointed out glaring flubs including a “The famous “Paramount Theatre” sign on Congress was all off (neon cursive), and then there’s this much talked about skyline view of Austin with duplicate buildings.”
Habel shared his thoughts with MySA, saying “About half the movie takes place in Austin, and you tend to notice the ‘weirdness’ in the wider establishing shots in the film’s scenes, which are typically where generative AI and/or FX shots are used to save on budget (tighter shots are easier to light, block, and film than wide shots, and it’s cheaper to generate a city than to send an entire film crew to it). These wider shots look a little like Austin, but have been created by someone who probably hasn’t stepped foot in the city.”
Another major whoops? Sailboats on Lady Bird Lake.
“FX were used to generate dozens of large sailboats in Lady Bird Lake, for example. Anyone who lives in Austin knows that that’s an impossibility because of the lake’s landlocked nature,” Habel said.
The freelance filmmaker, who also works in tech and electronic entertainment, including video games, wasn’t alone. Others were quick to point out the sail boats, the train cruising past Wes’ office window, and the sloppy skyline.
The film, which dropped on the streamer on June 19, was filmed in Canada and while you can dupe a Tex-Mex restaurant complete with twinkling lights and chips and salsa in a studio, can Vancouver really capture the vibes in Austin?
One commenter on Habel’s post put it succinctly, “I stared at this for so long and was like is this Austin, no, wait yes? But no?”
The city is no stranger to studios — Matthew McConaughey has been filming in Austin for the past several months and Netflix has already dabbled in Austin filming recently with Look Both Ways. The best rom-coms (When Harry Met Sally, Notting Hill, Sleepless in Seattle) are filmed to some degree on location. To take a quote from Voicemails’ soundtrack, Austin was “right over here ohhhhhhhhh.”