A pop star, fueled by betrayal, panic, and an insane amount of adrenaline, proposes to an audience member holding a sign that says “MARRY ME.” In a media landscape saturated by YouTuber clout weddings and reality show contestants getting “married at first sight,” the catalyst of Kat Coiro’s Marry Me feels more like a convention of the romance genre than a gimmick.
Neither international superstar Kat Valdez (Jennifer Lopez) nor divorced dad and math teacher Charlie Gilbert (Owen Wilson) wants to “fail at marriage” again, so they try to make it work. He comes to the recording studio; she hangs out with the mathletes. “They’re not so different after all,” Coiro keeps telling us, as though trying to convince herself.
At its core, this is another formulaic rom-com—there’s the love triangle (will Kat pick old flame Bastian or new beau Charlie?), the dramatic epiphany, and the grand romantic gesture that ties everything up into a neat little bow. But it’s hard to find the romance in this love story. There’s no distracting from Lopez and Wilson’s lack of chemistry, and the fact that their characters have nothing in common save for this: they’re lonely.
Can companionship only be accomplished by spinning the marriage roulette wheel? Marry Me seems to say “yes.” For all the film’s forced girl-power, it never occurs to Kat that she can leave the game entirely, and that maybe, all she really needs is a friend who isn’t on her payroll.
If you’re coming to the theater as a fan of Jennifer Lopez’s music and abs, you’ll get a heaping dose of both; the original songs shine (almost) as bright as Kat Valdez’s wardrobe. But if you want to be swept off your feet, I’d look for something with a bit more heat. PG-13, 112 min.
Wide release in theaters and streaming on Peacock
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