The year’s go-to Valentine’s Day movie has arrived, and it comes with a premise that’s more out-there than usual. Marry Me, starring Jennifer Lopez, Owen Wilson, Maluma, and Sarah Silverman, is hitting theaters this weekend, and tells the story of pop star Kat Valdez (Lopez) as the world discovers she’s being cheated on by her boyfriend (Maluma) right before they’re set to go on stage and get married at a concert in front of 20 million viewers. As a last-minute change, she pulls up random audience member Charlie Gilbert (Wilson) and marries him instead.
This is certainly a wild set-up, even for a rom-com, but to the film’s credit, it makes it work. Rather than leaning into the silliness, which potentially could have worked, it takes the time to really let the sheer absurdity of what Kat has done sink in, and the sudden marriage is shown to be the result of the nervous breakdown that it is. Luckily, Charlie goes along with it — if only to make her feel better at first — and those awkward-yet-weirdly-sweet scenes between the two set the stage for what’s to come.
While the wedding isn’t quite “official” the two decide to stay publicly married for a few months for PR purposes, meaning Charlie, who is a single father and math teacher at his daughter’s school, has to quickly learn to keep up with the world of celebrity and social media. There’s a bit of commentary on some of the absurdities of social media and the culture surrounding it, but definitely nothing that hasn’t been said before. Still, it’s cute when the two agree to take part in a bit of a role reversal and get off and get on social media, respectively.
There is also more music in this than is typical for a Jennifer Lopez movie, and yes, she does the bulk of the singing. The full versions of the songs — or close to it — are present in the film, often playing over montages, and they’re all good, but the choice to include so much of each does make the movie run a bit longer than it probably needed to.
Beyond the surprising self-awareness, the film is naturally super-predictable and hits all the expected notes, though the chemistry between the leads is good enough to offset this, or at least balance it out. All of this basically shakes out to be a by-the-numbers J-Lo rom-com. If that’s your thing, you’re in for a good time, and if not, you were never going to see it anyway.
The best parts of Marry Me are just Lopez and Wilson on screen together, getting to know each other and developing their relationship (okay, and maybe a scene or two of Sarah Silverman yukking it up as the guidance counselor for the school at which Charlie teaches) and really, that’s what rom-com audiences go into these movies for. It’s an easy, relaxing — if a little long for what it is — watch for those who have been craving a return to the classic rom-com cheesiness and tropes.
SCORE: 7/10
As ComingSoon’s review policy explains, a score of 7 equates to “Good.” A successful piece of entertainment that is worth checking out, but it may not appeal to everyone.
Disclosure: The critic watched a screener for ComingSoon’s Marry Me review.
