Marry Me Review
Marry Me (2022) Film Review, a movie directed by Kat Coiro and starring Owen Wilson, Jennifer Lopez, Sarah Silverman, John Bradley, Utkarsh Ambudkar, Maluma, Chloe Coleman, Jimmy Fallon, Michelle Buteau, Brady Noon, Jacqueline Honulik, Daymien Valentino, Stephen Wallem, Alex D. Jennings, Katrina Cunningham, Nathalie Rock and Christine Jones. Jennifer Lopez is a true superstar. She’s also an accomplished actress who wowed the movie world with her dramatic performance in 2019’s Hustlers. In the new film, Marry Me, it feels Lopez has traveled back in time to her romantic comedy days with a Notting Hill-type romance between an ordinary man and an extraordinary woman who initially seem to have little in common. This type of love story worked better in the 1999 film which starred Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts, Notting Hill, but Lopez is so much fun to watch that Marry Me becomes quite entertaining to behold despite its predictability and slight lack of chemistry between the two romantic leads. Owen Wilson is cast as Lopez’s love interest and, as a goofy comedy, the film succeeds but these two central characters wouldn’t have lasted 15 minutes in the real world. But never mind because Jennifer Lopez is such a fine actress that she makes us believe she has fallen for a man who is not only average but rather dull as well.
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Set mostly in New York City, Lopez is cast in director Kat Coiro’s Marry Me as Kat Valdez, a musical sensation who falls in love with an everyday, single average Joe who just so happens to be an inspirational math teacher. That regular guy is named Charlie Gilbert and is played by Wilson in one of his less showy performances to date. As Charlie, Wilson just relaxes in his role and acts like himself. There’s nothing that truly stands out about Charlie from a romantic standpoint though he is a good father and works hard helping his students achieve their full potential. We never meet Charlie’s ex-wife in any key scenes, however, though she does make a brief appearance in the movie. This is the biggest problem with Coiro’s movie. If Charlie was a bad husband to the ex-wife, the audience is never made fully aware of the reasons why. This helps shed some of the character of Charlie’s likability factor because we don’t know any of his flaws. He’s too perfect. As the new picture opens, Kat Valdez and musical sensation/hunk Bastian (Maluma) are getting ready for a concert at which Bastian will marry Kat and ride off into the sunset with her. During this event, it is discovered by Kat’s fans via the internet that Bastian has been unfaithful. Bastian has cheated on the older Kat and the movie’s plot takes off when a fan in the audience named Charlie (Wilson’s character) is caught by Kat holding a “Marry Me” sign that belongs to his female friend/colleague Parker Debbs (a nice but slightly lacking role for Sarah Silverman). Kat invites Charlie on to the stage and a “marriage” between them takes place because…well because this is the movies, that’s why. Kat and Charlie are now seemingly married but not technically. They go their separate ways shortly after but then, as a publicity stunt, Charlie is invited to tag along with Kat and her crew, and the two characters of Kat and Charlie will soon discover they have more in common than they originally seemed to have initially. It all feels familiar though there are unique qualities in the film such as the picture’s presentation of Charlie’s young daughter, Lou (well played by young actress Chloe Coleman) and the exploration of the news hungry media who spins the story whichever way is more convenient (see Jimmy Fallon’s hysterical cameo as an example of how the story gets spun around). There’s not much going on with the character of Charlie here. He’s a nice guy but we never really believe he would get involved in the unusual situation the film proposes. However, Lopez’s passion that she displays in her role makes the movie work better than it has any right to. You can’t make a movie about a divorced math teacher work 100 percent without explaining in detail why he got divorced. The dialogue here seems to point out that Charlie and his ex-wife had marital problems, but the picture rarely explores them or even touches upon those issues in a believable fashion. Sarah Silverman, as Parker Debbs, gets to steal scenes from Owen Wilson, but Silverman’s character is also underwritten and played almost entirely for comic relief. Silverman is funny here in her role to be sure so don’t get me wrong. Her character is just not well-written enough to entirely make the film believable in every scene throughout the picture in which she appears. Maluma, as Bastian, has some likable characteristics too in the new movie despite Bastian having cheated on Kat. He’s suave and cool and that comes across on screen. Bastian’s character shines through thanks to Maluma’s performance even though he only has minimal screen time. Bastian’s not-so-faithful characterization throughout the movie makes it hard to understand why Kat would even entertain the notion of marrying him. In the writing department, this move is missing a lot of essentials, but the audience really doesn’t intend to have to pay the character of Bastian much mind. For whatever reason, the movie makes us root for Kat and Charlie to get together by film’s end and that, we do thanks to the natural charisma of the leads. Wilson and Lopez don’t exactly set the screen on fire as a romantic couple but Marry Me is nevertheless a fun movie to watch. When Kat rents a carnival for her and Charlie to go on a private date together, it’s cute. Also, endearing is the presentation of how the two would-be lovers Kat and Charlie attend Lou’s school’s semi-formal together. There’s no shortage of cute scenes to be found in the new picture and that helps the audience smile a lot which is definitely very important in a comedy. Coleman, as Charlie’s daughter Lou, is very believable as a young character who participates on the math team and is painfully shy at times. Lou and Kat end up forming a bond that touches the heart as the movie progresses. Marry Me is a charming date movie that will appeal to the always wonderful Lopez’s fans. She even has some nice, new songs featured in the film which are pleasant to listen to. It doesn’t really matter if audiences don’t buy too much of the premise because, thanks to Lopez, if you suspend disbelief, you will have a good time watching this picture. Rating: 7/10 Leave your thoughts on this Marry Me review and the film below in the comments section. Readers seeking to support this type of content can visit our Patreon Page and become one of FilmBook’s patrons. Readers seeking more film reviews can visit our Movie Review Page, our Movie Review Twitter Page, and our Movie Review Facebook Page. Want up-to-the-minute notifications? 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