What do you get when you cross a WEDDING CRASHER with a WEDDING PLANNER? A WEDDING SINGER with a post-pandemic cure for the blues – or in its’ correct title, MARRY ME.
Jennifer Lopez, who also co-produces, plays Kat Valdez in a mirror of her own success, a popular singer who is about to get married in front of twenty million people on TV to year and a half steady and soon to be next-intended other half Bastian (Maluma in his screen debut). Straightforward? Er….weellllll…. predictably as the camera rolls on the event, a phone capture reveals Bastian is not too keen on waiting at the church – or anywhere else – for Kat. They’re performing a hugely popular song of theirs, ‘Marry Me’ and news breaks of a sideways glance and a kiss….
Sometimes, of course, the path of love means a leap of faith, but for Kat, it is a leap into the unknown as a classic case of breakdown-cum-damage limitation, when she spots mathematics professor Charlie Gilbert (Owen Wilson) in the crowd at the arena with daughter Lou (Chloe Coleman) , reluctantly brought by a fellow school teacher (Sarah Silverman) holding a ‘Marry Me’ sign – and decides to leap into the dark by marrying Charlie on spec, much to the chagrin of Bastian – and the Instagram mad world of Kat.
Against the grain, Kat decides to play along with the game, whilst Charlie is none-too-keen on bringing himself or his daughter, preferring to work with his students on their maths tests and regional competitions. Kat decides for the sake of social media to bring Charlie more into it, at least for three months and then forget the whole thing to go back to her superstar life…
…and about as predictable as you can get with a movie that is not so much a meet-cute as a meet-skew, but in a good diverting way, thanks to engaging chemistry between Wilson and Lopez and some great musical performances from the latter that will be catchy to fans. The predictability of the film is up there with PRETTY WOMAN in tone and NOTTING HILL for the unlikeliness of the meet-up.
Enjoy it for what it is….and perhaps that dream we have all had of marrying a superstar might still bear fruit (not that in my case I am expecting Lily James to pick me out of the crowd at the premiere of the next big movie she makes!)
MARRY ME WILL BE RELEASED ON DVD AND BLU-RAY ON 16 MAY 2022
