The latest iconic romcom lead character is a rising San Francisco culinary star, and it’s telling she whips up a fascinating banquet of bittersweet. Writer/director Leah McKendrick’s Voicemails for Isabelle (B+) centers Zoey Deutch’s Jill who regularly leaves phone messages for her late sister, Isabelle (Ciara Bravo), to cope with her grief, but the number has been reassigned to real estate agent Wes (Nick Robinson), who falls for Jill through following her outrageous and confessional messages recalling raunchy and romantic exploits her sick sibling could never experience herself. Deutch is absolutely wonderful as the multidimensional protagonist; viewers will relish her ribald humor and utter vulnerability. Robinson is winning as the sturdy love interest and gives his role some bite, even while his character falls victim to some of the shortcut tropes of the genre. McKendrick deftly explores themes of grief, and connection, with genuinely felt emotional beats and lots of nifty needle drops (the catalogue of pop star Robyn gets a distinctive showcase). The film also features a funny Nick Offerman as Jill’s mercurial culinary boss, providing additional reasons for our heroine to question if she’s really getting all she wants. Although there are some witty callbacks to Nora Ephron’s modern classics about crossed communications, McKendrick makes the milieu distinctly her own. Deutch and her director instinctively vibe here, and viewers will find this Netflix production gives us canny and convincing summer entertainment.