"Marry Me" a perfectly pleasant dish of comfort food
At long last, former “Anaconda” co-stars Jennifer Lopez and Owen Wilson get to run from the paparazzi instead of a humongous snake. Kidding aside, the romantic comedy “Marry Me” is undoubtedly one of Lopez’s most winning romantic-comedy vehicles since “Maid in Manhattan,” and that was in 2002. Couple her with an unlikely Owen Wilson—if you will, he is the Hugh Grant to Lopez’s Julia Roberts—and this is a frothy, perfectly pleasant comfort dish that works on its own escapist level. Leave close, real-world scrutiny at the altar, and "Marry Me" is as sweet as it needs to be and never as shallow as it could have been.
Lopez plays a version of herself as Kat Valdez, a self-made pop music superstar who’s at the top of her game. In front of a live concert audience of 20 million of her closest fans, Kat plans on getting married to her hot Latin singer boyfriend Bastian (Maluma) after performing their hit duet “Marry Me” (which, yes, will probably become an earworm and #1 on The Hot 100). Moments before Kat, in her sequined wedding gown, rises from the stage to exchange her vows, Kat’s managing team catches wind of some terrible news from the tabloids: Bastian cheated on Kat with her assistant! Kat sees it for herself, and instead of standing alone and making a mockery of herself, she decides to take a chance, pointing to a complete stranger holding a “Marry Me” sign to take Bastian's place.
Here's the part that viewers who hate love will find too absurd to function. In the crowd happens to be single dad Charlie Gilbert (Owen Wilson), a middle school math teacher being dragged along by friend and colleague Parker (Sarah Silverman) and his shy 12-year-old daughter Lou (Chloe Coleman). To not leave her hanging, Charlie goes up on stage and they get hitched. Now what? As Kat tries to live in the moment and answer prenup questions later, she follows through on her impulsive action and tries getting to know Charlie beyond publicity photo ops. Will they or won’t they actually last as a married couple really in love when the cameras aren’t around? Well, it is a Valentine’s Day weekend release from one of the “Big Five” movie studios, so of course, they will!
Yes, "Marry Me" is "Notting Hill." Yes, it is fluff. But this is lovely fluff, and director Kat Coiro (2013’s “A Case of You”) and writers Harper Dill and John Rogers, adapting Bobby Crosby’s graphic novel (!), get away with just making one surrender and buy into the improbable worlds-apart, meet-cute gimmick of it all. Suspending disbelief is a small and worthwhile sacrifice when the charm feels this genuine. Plot-wise, the film appreciably never takes on more than it has to, like straining with any contrived misunderstandings or complications with Charlie’s ex-wife. Also, without ever judging Kat herself, the film wisely doesn't fall into wrongheaded messaging about fame and wealth (even if Kat, in her third-act mad dash to Charlie's mathlete competition, does throw her money around willy-nilly). None of that nonsense is found here when the growing central relationship is more than enough, and “Marry Me” is better for it.
Jennifer Lopez, glamorous as ever and at any age, reminds us again of the range of her talents and the superpower of her charisma, no matter the tone of the project. While the role is not a stretch for her, Lopez brings warmth, vulnerability, and a down-to-earth nature to Kat beyond her stunning beauty. By design, Owen Wilson is miscast as an on-the-spot husband to someone who looks like J.Lo, but that’s not meant as an insult to the actor. As Charlie, he’s in affable dad mode here, and it’s a good sweet spot for him. Charlie is safer than Kat is used to, but Wilson makes the character smart, decent, respectful, and often surprisingly confident in a low-key way. He also stays true to himself without ever trying to impress Kat. Together, Kat and Charlie—and Lopez and Wilson—challenge each other and charm us.
There is one avenue in "Marry Me" that could have been explored more fully and more interestingly. When Charlie practically dares Kat to be more self-sufficient without any help from her team, some of the physical gags for this brief interlude are more amusing than others. Does anyone ever actually forget to put on the lid of a blender? Or throw a rock at your house window because you're locked out? It’s only mildly condescending to be a slight frustration. For better “com,” though, the supporting cast is capably filled by Sarah Silverman, her sparky self as Charlie’s friend, his school’s guidance counselor, and Kat’s most starstruck fan; Michelle Buteau, always ready to bite as Kat’s side-eying social media manager Mel; John Bradley, who materially elevated last week’s “Moonfall" and makes the most out of playing Kat’s manager; and Stephen Wallem, sneakily hilarious as a glee club teacher. As glossy and prefabricated as this formula may be, “Marry Me” does exactly what it vows to do. No love potion is needed when your stars are this cute with a capital C.
Grade: B
Universal Pictures is releasing “Marry Me” (112 min.) in theaters and on Peacock to stream on February 11, 2022.
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