Movie Review: 'Marry Me' is Romantic Comedy Done Right

I went into the new romantic comedy Marry Me, starring Jennifer Lopez and Owen Wilson, with the expectation of hating the movie. It was a feeling that was not unfair given the track record that Jennifer Lopez has in terrible romantic comedies. Lopez has been party to the decline of the rom-com genre over the last two decades by churning out one horrific example of the genre after another. Movies like 2001’s dreary The Wedding Planner, the abysmal, unwatchable failure that was Gigli, the gag inducing comedy The Back Up Plan, and 2018's regrettable Second Act, in my mind, perfectly justify my expectation to hate Marry Me.

Lopez’s taste in romantic comedies is a bland, borderline unwatchable example of everything wrong with the genre. Owen Wilson is only slightly more reliable in the genre because he’s made so few genuine romantic comedies in his lengthy career. What a lovely surprise it is to have my expectations proven wrong. Granted, Marry Me benefits from extremely low standards on my part but given the attitude I went in with, it’s impressive to me that I can sit here and recommend Marry Me to you, dear reader.

Marry Me stars Jennifer Lopez as world famous pop star Kat Valdez. Kat is a massive global superstar to such a degree that her marriage to fellow superstar, Bastian (Maluma) is set to be broadcast live to the world during a joint concert performance at Madison Square Garden. Meanwhile, Charlie Gilbert (Owen Wilson) is working as a middle school math teacher trying to connect with his tween daughter, Lou (Chloe Coleman), who carries some residual resentment for dad after his divorce from her mother.

Seeking a way to prove to his daughter that he knows how to have fun, Charlie accepts his friend Parker’s (Sarah Silverman) invitation to Kat Valdez’s history-making concert. Here is where the plot kicks in. Just as Kat is about to sing her new hit duet, Marry Me, she gets word that her soon to be new husband has been caught on video cheating on her with her assistant. Stopping the concert to make a statement, Kat shocks the worldwide audience by grabbing Charlie out of the crowd and agreeing to marry him.

Charlie happened to be holding Parker’s sign with the song title on it and had not intended it as a message from him to Kat. Nevertheless, with the eyes of the world watching, and most importantly his daughter watching, Charlie accepts the proposal and gets married live on stage. Thus begins a whirlwind romance where Kat is trying to prove she’s not crazy and Charlie tries desperately not to get sucked up into the celebrity culture that defines Kat’s existence.

There is nothing remotely surprising about Marry Me, no unpredictable twists and turns. Directed by Kat Koiro, Marry Me adheres strictly to romantic comedy conventions, including lame critiques of celebrity culture, toothless gags about social media, and the trite romanticizing of the world away from the celebrity spotlight. And yet, despite these overly familiar and rotely rendered clichés, I didn’t hate the movie.

Marry Me is a strong example of how the romantic comedy genre succeeds not because of plot but because of undeniable star power and the chemistry of two great leads. I recently watched a very similar rom-com in which an actress played a movie star on vacation who falls for a chef while in paradise until her sexy ex and fellow star comes back to try and ruin the fairy tale. The movie was competently made but the leads had all of the spark of dry toast and the movie floundered.

Marry Me has a similar premise and yet, because Marry Me stars the magnetic Jennifer Lopez and the easygoing and charming Owen Wilson, it worked. Star power and chemistry is the real heart of the romantic comedy. Getting audiences to buy in on a pair of attractive celebrities falling in love can make even the most pedestrian romantic comedy plot into something sweet and light and entertaining.

Jennifer Lopez hasn’t connected with another actor on screen as well as she does here with Owen Wilson. Part of the reason for that is that Wilson isn’t the typical romantic comedy leading man. He has a completely different energy and appeal. He’s not ludicrously handsome, he’s grown over his career into a perfect audience surrogate, a sort of regular guy who is easy to relate to and identify with. He and Lopez aren’t the most likely romantic partners but their competing energies work well together. Wilson slows down some of Lopez’s over the top qualities while she brings a glamorous air to the homespun romantic elements of Marry Me.

Despite my deep misgivings and extremely low expectations, Marry Me works. Marry Me is sweet, romantic and overcomes its innate predictability by employing a pair of movie stars whose off the charts likability helps you forget how simpleminded the movie is. On the surface, there is nothing remotely special about Marry Me. On the surface, Marry Me should fail as hard as every other Jennifer Lopez rom-com. Thankfully, beneath the surface is a terrific romantic chemistry that is irresistible even to a skeptical curmudgeon like myself.

Marry Me premiered in theaters nationwide and streaming on Peacock on February 11th, 2022.