The Hits and Misses of Marry Me Movie [Movie Review]
Jennifer Lopez is not really new to romantic comedies. She got some decent flicks on her catalog including The Wedding Planner (2001), Maid in Manhattan (2002), and Monster-in-Law (2005). While most of these romcoms do not really showcase much of her acting ability much like what she did with the Hustlers (2019), they are still fun to watch. I honestly wouldn’t mind rewatching her films every once in awhile. JLo started this year with yet another romantic comedy “Marry Me” where she is paired with Owen Wilson.
Photo Credit: IMDB
Marry Me follows the story of a famous celebrity Kat Valdez (Jennifer Lopez) who is about to launch a highly anticipated duet song “Marry Me” with her fellow superstar Bastian (Maluma) in front of a great crowd. However, just a few minutes before the much awaited moment, she learned that her on-stage partner was having an affair with her assistant. Out of frustration and despair, she decided to randomly pick a stranger from the audience which happens to be Charlie (Owen Wilson) who coincidentally holding a “Marry Me” slogan that originally belongs to his friend Parker (Sarah Silverman). She calls Charlie to come up on stage and to his and everyone else’s surprise, agrees to marry him. Initially, the two made an arrangement that everything will be just for publicity but things changed when they started to feel affection for each other.
It is very interesting to note that this film is directed by Kat Coiro who is set to direct multiple episodes of Disney’s upcoming She-Hulk series. Also, it is important to mention that Marry Me is based on a visual/graphic novel of the same name written by Bobby Crosby. I went to see the actual webcomic after watching the film and it seems like they put on a lot of artistic licenses from the original material. For instance, the character Charlie is a bachelor and not a single father as depicted in the film. Kat Valdez is also not engaged to any artist but she did randomly picked a stranger from the crowd to marry her. Also, Parker (Sarah Silverman)’s character has a relatively larger role in the comics compared to the film. Nevertheless, I appreciate the changes they made for the film as it added more depth to Kat’s character.
The actual webcomic from Keenspot
Marry Me is generally a fun film to watch and I personally would not mind watching the film again in the future whenever I get bored or if I am looking for a feel-good flick to watch. However, just because it is a fun movie doesn’t mean it is a great one. Story-wise, the film is very predictable. To be honest, everything was already revealed in the trailer and you can instantly tell where exactly they are heading. I am not sure if it is intentional but for me, it feels like they tried to incorporate some famous romcom references in the film. They’ve inputted a lot of romantic comedy clichés including the seemingly undying “airport chase” scenes. At some point of the film, it seems like they throw some references to “Notting Hill” and “Love Actually“.
While the chemistry between Jennifer Lopez and Owen Wilson is not that strong, they are undeniably fun to watch on screen. The music, on the other hand, are great and catchy. While “Marry Me” is a decent duet of JLo and Maluma, “On My Way” stood out the most from its soundtrack. Although it feels like the film itself is just a marketing strategy for JLo to promote her new songs.
Overall, Marry Me is a fun and light-hearted film, a family-friendly movie to watch. It is predictable and it doesn’t offer much of interesting surprises but still worth-watching. Currently, the film is exclusively available on Peacock Premium streaming service.
Rating: 5/10
