#REVIEW: “MARRY ME”

Review by George Kozera for Mr. Will Wong

In the interest of full disclosure, I am going to put this out right away and in front: I love Jennifer Lopez Rom-Coms. At the risk of being labelled low-brow or biased, her movies take me to a place that is comforting and entertaining and I have, many times, put plans aside if I see a television station program “Monster-in-Law”, “Maid in Manhattan” or “The Wedding Planner”, snuggle-up in front of the TV with a chilled vodka martini and let J-Lo wash over me. I actually begged to be assigned to view and review her latest, MARRY ME, and squealed like a hormonal teenager when it was assigned to me!

Lopez plays Kat Valdez, a music superstar preparing to marry Bastian (played charismatically by Latin Grammy  winner Maluma) at a concert that will be screened to over 20 million viewers. Owen Wilson plays Charlie Gilbert, a math teacher at the school that his “wise beyond her years” 12,-year-old daughter Lou (Chloe Coleman) attends. He still has issues with his recent divorce. When fellow teacher Parker Debbs (Sarah Silverman) invites Charles and Lou to join her to see Kat’s concert, all their lives will change in an instant. Minutes before the nuptials are to take place, social media outlets are ablaze with a video of Bastian making-out with one of Kat’s assistants. While trying to explain why the marriage will not take place from the stage, Kat sees Charles holding a “marry me” placard (which he was holding for Parker) and hastily accepts his proposal, where he is quickly whisked onto the stage and the marriage takes place. The following day, the media and paparazzi descend on the newlyweds, flustering Charlie but he and Kat decide to stay married and see where it leads. Any publicity is good publicity.

Like most Rom-Coms, the contrived plot is laden with issues, but they work their magic with aplomb in MARRY ME. Jennifer Lopez is fully-committed to the role and gives it 150%. Her many concert scenes in this Movie are energetic with outstanding costumes and choreography. I enjoyed watching her poke-fun at herself while trying to explain to Charles her many marriages and relationships and really enjoyed the scene when she invades Charles’ math class. Lopez seems to respond exceptionally well to female Directors and Kat Coiro nicely encompasses the best of J-Lo in the Kat. I will never understand the success of Owen Wilson; he’s all hound dog faced with a laconic demeanour. Whereas the chemistry between the two leads is fine, Lopez shines with anyone else she is on-screen with. The less Charles spoke, in grating platitudes, the happier I was. Sarah Silverman seems constrained by the PG-13 material, but she saves many moments with her on-screen comic timing and I was equally impressed by the performance from John Bradley (Game of Thrones) as Kat’s manager. I wish Maluma had more screen time because he sizzled every time he appears – his is an auspicious movie debut.

Will MARRY ME make a dent awards season? Probably not – but it does give the audience something that was severely lacking in 2021. A Rom-Com that is fun and sweet-natured. I really enjoyed it!

Universal Pictures Canada release MARRY ME Friday, February 11, 2022.

*Please exercise caution observing Covid-19 protocols if seeing this in-theatre*