If you’ve seen the trailer for ‘Marry Me’, you can pretty much guess the whole story, but that doesn’t stop this 2022 romantic comedy starring Jennifer Lopez and Owen Wilson from being an absolute entertainer. It’s just what movies in the genre should be like – wholesome, cute, romantic, and a tad bit unrealistic.
Directed by Kat Coiro, the plot follows music superstar Kat Valdez (Jennifer Lopez) who is set to wed fellow musician Bastian (Maluma) in a global concert packed with thousands of fans, but seconds before they are supposed to take their vows on stage, Kat learns Batian has been cheating on her, so in a moment of spontaneous grief she decides to marry a random man in the crowd holding a placard saying ‘Marry Me’. The two have a public wedding and in a twist, Kat resolves to continue with her marriage to math teacher Charlie (Owen Wilson), to not make further fool of herself in the media. Will these two completely different strangers hit a chord? Oh we know where it goes!
In their own odd way, Jennifer Lopez and Owen Wilson make a pretty cute onscreen couple. Largely playing herself – a widely successful pop Goddess with a string of failed relationships – Lopez is charming as a busy diva flying around the world, working every minute, yet trying to do everything possible to make love happen in her life. Her character is a lot more grounded than one would expect a star singer to be. Wilson has mastered the art of playing middle-aged casual dad, so he just does his usual thing with ease.
It’s the string of songs that Lopez performs as Kate Valdez throughout the movie that breathes life into this production. Fans of the singer are going to fall in love with the diva all over again as they watch her in her element. It’s what makes Charlie’s heart flutter too, when Valdez loses herself in music. The climax switches up the gender roles a little, even though the makers do use the oldest trick in the romance book for endings – someone rushing to make a grand gesture. Regardless, this was a warm entertaining romantic watch. Stream in on Amazon Prime if you want to watch it too.
It’s a 7/10 from me.