MARRY ME
***
Director: Kat Coiro
Screenwriters: John Rogers & Tami Sagher and Harper Dill, based on the graphic novel by Bobby Crosby.
Principal cast:
Jennifer Lopez
Owen Wilson
Maluma
John Bradley
Sarah Silverman
Chloe Coleman
Country: USA
Classification: PG
Runtime: 112 mins.
Australian release date: 10 February 2022.
Just in time for Valentine’s Day, along comes the JLo star vehicle Marry Me, which promises to be a successful date night movie for the superstar’s fans, depending on your definition of success. Kat Coiro’s film takes place in a pop music world obsessed with social media and it’s refreshing to see a movie that questions the value of the phenomenon through the eyes of its central characters. The premise of the story is totally unbelievable but it kinda works. Kat Valdez (Jennifer Lopez) is a massively popular singer who is about to tie the knot, on live television, with her beau Bastian (Colombian pop-star Maluma, making his movie debut), an equally huge Latino vocalist. Moments before she is about to go on stage in all her glittering finery, social media lights up all the phones in the audience with revealing footage of Bastian having a fling with Kat’s assistant. Dios mío!
Cut to the other, less glamorous, side of life and we meet Charlie Gilbert (Owen Wilson), a single father and nerdy mathematics teacher who conducts his classes with great humour and enthusiasm. It’s a new school and he is endeavouring to instil his 12-year-old daughter, Lou (Chloe Coleman), with the confidence she lost at a crucial maths contest when she froze in front of her peers. Charlie and his lesbian workmate, Parker (Sarah Silverman), have a close friendship so when she is dumped by her girlfriend (via text message, of course) she badgers Charlie to accompany her to Kat’s marriage concert and bring Lou, too. When Kat sees the incriminating images of her cheating beau, she gives an impromptu speech about the betrayal of love and trust and, as she does, she spies Charlie in the crowd brandishing a sign that reads ‘Marry Me’, the title of her new hit song. On the spur-of-the-moment, she decides that love has nothing to do with marriage and asks him to marry her; taken by surprise, Charlie clambers onto the stage and says “yes.”
Marry Me will draw inevitable comparisons with TV’s Married at First Sight but any such comparison would be unfair. The film is actually a genuine attempt to look at what makes a successful marriage; it doesn’t concentrate on the physical aspects of matrimony but raises issues about friendship, love and romance, trust and betrayal, overcoming insecurity, sincerity versus hypocrisy and, especially in this story, celebrity versus obscurity. It’s all rather sweet and touching. Of course, above all else, it’s a means for the fabulous 52-year-old Lopez to strut her stuff and display her extraordinary acting, singing and dancing talents. Sporting a new shorter hairdo, she looks terrific and, because her character is somewhat similar to the real JLo, she gets to wear an outrageous collection of revealing costumes. The songs are destined to be well-received IRL and Marry Me, particularly, is a real ear-worm (the soundtrack is out now). Owen Wilson is very good in the nice guy role of Charlie, a man who can see that Kat isn’t entirely happy in her cocooned world, even though she thinks she is. The screenplay, although it flags in the mid-section, manages to keep you guessing about whether Bastian or Charlie will ultimately win Kat’s heart, and Sarah Silverman supplies the laughs. There are also a couple of very funny cameos featuring Jimmy Fallon. Marry Me isn’t going to change your world but if you’re looking for some light, romantic entertainment around Valentine’s Day, you should keep it in mind. Especially if you’re a JLo fan.
Screenwriters: John Rogers & Tami Sagher and Harper Dill, based on the graphic novel by Bobby Crosby.
Principal cast:
Jennifer Lopez
Owen Wilson
Maluma
John Bradley
Sarah Silverman
Chloe Coleman
Country: USA
Classification: PG
Runtime: 112 mins.
Australian release date: 10 February 2022.
Just in time for Valentine’s Day, along comes the JLo star vehicle Marry Me, which promises to be a successful date night movie for the superstar’s fans, depending on your definition of success. Kat Coiro’s film takes place in a pop music world obsessed with social media and it’s refreshing to see a movie that questions the value of the phenomenon through the eyes of its central characters. The premise of the story is totally unbelievable but it kinda works. Kat Valdez (Jennifer Lopez) is a massively popular singer who is about to tie the knot, on live television, with her beau Bastian (Colombian pop-star Maluma, making his movie debut), an equally huge Latino vocalist. Moments before she is about to go on stage in all her glittering finery, social media lights up all the phones in the audience with revealing footage of Bastian having a fling with Kat’s assistant. Dios mío!
Cut to the other, less glamorous, side of life and we meet Charlie Gilbert (Owen Wilson), a single father and nerdy mathematics teacher who conducts his classes with great humour and enthusiasm. It’s a new school and he is endeavouring to instil his 12-year-old daughter, Lou (Chloe Coleman), with the confidence she lost at a crucial maths contest when she froze in front of her peers. Charlie and his lesbian workmate, Parker (Sarah Silverman), have a close friendship so when she is dumped by her girlfriend (via text message, of course) she badgers Charlie to accompany her to Kat’s marriage concert and bring Lou, too. When Kat sees the incriminating images of her cheating beau, she gives an impromptu speech about the betrayal of love and trust and, as she does, she spies Charlie in the crowd brandishing a sign that reads ‘Marry Me’, the title of her new hit song. On the spur-of-the-moment, she decides that love has nothing to do with marriage and asks him to marry her; taken by surprise, Charlie clambers onto the stage and says “yes.”
Marry Me will draw inevitable comparisons with TV’s Married at First Sight but any such comparison would be unfair. The film is actually a genuine attempt to look at what makes a successful marriage; it doesn’t concentrate on the physical aspects of matrimony but raises issues about friendship, love and romance, trust and betrayal, overcoming insecurity, sincerity versus hypocrisy and, especially in this story, celebrity versus obscurity. It’s all rather sweet and touching. Of course, above all else, it’s a means for the fabulous 52-year-old Lopez to strut her stuff and display her extraordinary acting, singing and dancing talents. Sporting a new shorter hairdo, she looks terrific and, because her character is somewhat similar to the real JLo, she gets to wear an outrageous collection of revealing costumes. The songs are destined to be well-received IRL and Marry Me, particularly, is a real ear-worm (the soundtrack is out now). Owen Wilson is very good in the nice guy role of Charlie, a man who can see that Kat isn’t entirely happy in her cocooned world, even though she thinks she is. The screenplay, although it flags in the mid-section, manages to keep you guessing about whether Bastian or Charlie will ultimately win Kat’s heart, and Sarah Silverman supplies the laughs. There are also a couple of very funny cameos featuring Jimmy Fallon. Marry Me isn’t going to change your world but if you’re looking for some light, romantic entertainment around Valentine’s Day, you should keep it in mind. Especially if you’re a JLo fan.