Marry Me
Marry Me
Starring Jennifer Lopez, Owen Wilson, Maluma, Sarah Silverman
Directed by Kat Coiro
A love story where a multi-million dollar making music celebrity on a whim decides to marry a divorced single father math teacher seems like something you'd see during the Christmas holiday on Hallmark, and it might actually be the case. Yet what sets "Marry Me" apart from such cheesy Hallmark Christmas movies is the fact that the movie features two international superstars who wouldn't set foot on a Hallmark sound stage if their careers depended on it (sorry Lacey Chabert). Besides that small difference, there's no deviation from the saccharine-filled Hallmark movies and "Marry Me," but that small difference is also what sets it apart and makes it an almost bearable experience.Starring Jennifer Lopez, Owen Wilson, Maluma, Sarah Silverman
Directed by Kat Coiro
Kat Valdez (Jennifer Lopez) is a famous singer who's been in the business for over a decade, and who has a posse of people who follow her everywhere and document every moment of her life for her millions of social media followers. She and her current beau Bastian (Maluma) plan on getting married at their concert in front of thousands of audience members and millions of people online, and while Kat is experiencing some reservations, is more than excited to participate in this endeavor.
Meanwhile, math teacher Charlie Gilbert (Owen Wilson) is running a math club after school and for all intents and purposes is extremely clean-cut and safe, someone his young daughter Lou (Chloe Coleman) finds a bit "boring." When his best friend, guidance counselor Parker Debbs (Sarah Silverman), invites him and Chloe to the concert, he decides to go in order to not appear as a lame old man to his daughter. Moments before the wedding was to take place, Kat discovers Bastian was cheating on her, and she cancels the wedding on stage and decides to do something different to get a different outcome - and that's when she sees Charlie in the audience holding a Marry Me sign (that Parker had, but she had Charlie hold it for a second), and decides to marry him on the spot. Charlie, not wanting to embarrass Kat more, agrees to go along with it.
While Kat's manager wants her to dissolve the marriage, Kat thinks it's better to stay married to Charlie in order to not be the butt of the jokes going on around her, and as the months go by, the two get to know each other and participate in each others' lives, as well as challenging one another to step out of their comfort zones. As it seems they might be actually falling in love, Bastian re-enters the picture and threatens the budding romance.
"Marry Me" isn't rocket science, and it's not a script that'll keep you riveted with its many twists and turns (the fact that it took three scriptwriters to turn this graphic novel to the big screen bogs my mind), and in fact it actually does seem like it was written by bots (you can check YouTube for a great video of bots actually writing a romantic comedy, and it's pretty on point). You know every beat, every pattern, and every scene before it happens, and the ending isn't exactly something out of left field, but sometimes the journey is more important than the destination - but even in this case, the journey is like walking from your front porch to your backyard: simple, safe, easy, and predictable.
Romantic comedies for me is my least favorite genre, because of this formulaic method. From the initial meeting to the growing connection to the inevitable setback and ultimate happy ending, there's very few films of this subgenre that beats to a different drum, which makes them wholly predictable and therefore is more reliant on those telling the story to make it interesting. Thankfully, you got the queen of rom-coms in Jennifer Lopez blazing the trail, and with the aloof cuteness of Owen Wilson, you've got a decent pair of actors whose journey backward (from getting married to actually falling in love) isn't as tedious as you'd expect.
Jennifer Lopez has been doing the generic rom-coms for awhile now, and while some were decent hits ("The Wedding Planner," "Monster-in-Law"), others weren't as well-received ("Second Act," "Maid in Manhattan"). "Marry Me" will fall into the upper echelon of her catalogue, mostly due to it being her most natural performance. She's a famous singer (as she is in real life) who has had a string of divorces and break-ups (as she has in real life) who has a headstrong attitude toward life (as she appears to have in real life) who attempts to make it work with a middle-class schlub (maybe that isn't as accurate in real life). She has this every-person appeal to her character who doesn't mind going to the inner city school to teach kids how to dance and appreciate math and she seems good-natured when it comes to the bet that Charlie makes with her, that she can't handle things on her own without the aid of her entourage.
Likewise, Owen Wilson has an effervescent charm that's natural to him, and he uses that charm to his advantage here. Charlie is a man who's struggling with the divorce from his wife and trying to be a good example and friend to his daughter, and he doesn't want this whole affair to upend the lives of not just himself but his child and his students. Of course this makes for a perfect odd couple pairing, and both Lopez and Wilson give their all to their performances, almost making it believable. Add to the fact that we know how it'll all end up, and it provides a decent escape from reality and savor in the goodness of the rich and famous finding true love on screen, even though it might not happen to us in real life. Then again, isn't that the magic of movies anyway?
While "Marry Me" won't stick in your head after it ends, it still provides a fun, light-hearted romantic comedy romp between two mismatched people who of course fall in love despite their differences and is heightened by a traditional Hallmark Christmas movie due to Jennifer Lopez and Owen Wilson's committed performances.
The Score: B
Meanwhile, math teacher Charlie Gilbert (Owen Wilson) is running a math club after school and for all intents and purposes is extremely clean-cut and safe, someone his young daughter Lou (Chloe Coleman) finds a bit "boring." When his best friend, guidance counselor Parker Debbs (Sarah Silverman), invites him and Chloe to the concert, he decides to go in order to not appear as a lame old man to his daughter. Moments before the wedding was to take place, Kat discovers Bastian was cheating on her, and she cancels the wedding on stage and decides to do something different to get a different outcome - and that's when she sees Charlie in the audience holding a Marry Me sign (that Parker had, but she had Charlie hold it for a second), and decides to marry him on the spot. Charlie, not wanting to embarrass Kat more, agrees to go along with it.
While Kat's manager wants her to dissolve the marriage, Kat thinks it's better to stay married to Charlie in order to not be the butt of the jokes going on around her, and as the months go by, the two get to know each other and participate in each others' lives, as well as challenging one another to step out of their comfort zones. As it seems they might be actually falling in love, Bastian re-enters the picture and threatens the budding romance.
"Marry Me" isn't rocket science, and it's not a script that'll keep you riveted with its many twists and turns (the fact that it took three scriptwriters to turn this graphic novel to the big screen bogs my mind), and in fact it actually does seem like it was written by bots (you can check YouTube for a great video of bots actually writing a romantic comedy, and it's pretty on point). You know every beat, every pattern, and every scene before it happens, and the ending isn't exactly something out of left field, but sometimes the journey is more important than the destination - but even in this case, the journey is like walking from your front porch to your backyard: simple, safe, easy, and predictable.
Romantic comedies for me is my least favorite genre, because of this formulaic method. From the initial meeting to the growing connection to the inevitable setback and ultimate happy ending, there's very few films of this subgenre that beats to a different drum, which makes them wholly predictable and therefore is more reliant on those telling the story to make it interesting. Thankfully, you got the queen of rom-coms in Jennifer Lopez blazing the trail, and with the aloof cuteness of Owen Wilson, you've got a decent pair of actors whose journey backward (from getting married to actually falling in love) isn't as tedious as you'd expect.
Jennifer Lopez has been doing the generic rom-coms for awhile now, and while some were decent hits ("The Wedding Planner," "Monster-in-Law"), others weren't as well-received ("Second Act," "Maid in Manhattan"). "Marry Me" will fall into the upper echelon of her catalogue, mostly due to it being her most natural performance. She's a famous singer (as she is in real life) who has had a string of divorces and break-ups (as she has in real life) who has a headstrong attitude toward life (as she appears to have in real life) who attempts to make it work with a middle-class schlub (maybe that isn't as accurate in real life). She has this every-person appeal to her character who doesn't mind going to the inner city school to teach kids how to dance and appreciate math and she seems good-natured when it comes to the bet that Charlie makes with her, that she can't handle things on her own without the aid of her entourage.
Likewise, Owen Wilson has an effervescent charm that's natural to him, and he uses that charm to his advantage here. Charlie is a man who's struggling with the divorce from his wife and trying to be a good example and friend to his daughter, and he doesn't want this whole affair to upend the lives of not just himself but his child and his students. Of course this makes for a perfect odd couple pairing, and both Lopez and Wilson give their all to their performances, almost making it believable. Add to the fact that we know how it'll all end up, and it provides a decent escape from reality and savor in the goodness of the rich and famous finding true love on screen, even though it might not happen to us in real life. Then again, isn't that the magic of movies anyway?
While "Marry Me" won't stick in your head after it ends, it still provides a fun, light-hearted romantic comedy romp between two mismatched people who of course fall in love despite their differences and is heightened by a traditional Hallmark Christmas movie due to Jennifer Lopez and Owen Wilson's committed performances.
The Score: B
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