Marry Me Movie Review: Safe and Average Filmmaking If I've Ever Seen It

Marry Me movie Owen Wilson Jennifer Lopez — *Marry Me* Movie Review

Oh boy, here we go. Kaylee and I went and saw Marry Me opening night. Awkwardly enough, I think she wanted to see J-Lo and I was riding the Owen Wilson-hype train heading into the film. To me, this feels like a “what your expectations are will define how you feel” movie. Was it cliché from beginning to end? Pretty much. Was it made to sell half-baked songs and capitalize on current music/film mashup trends? Unequivocally yes. Did we still have a good time at theater? I would say yes. Yes we did.

I went into Marry Me knowing absolutely nothing about the film. If you go into it that way, you’re going to have a wild time. The plot throws you off about fifteen minutes in and you’re left picking up the bits of your brain that exploded when the two (*spoiler alert* I think) get married basically right away.

The film works best with these two at the center of it. J-Lo and Owen Wilson both have their own personas that work perfectly with the characters they are supposed to portray. Lopez is an international hit singer fresh off a #1 single with her now ex-fiancé and Owen Wilson is a middle school teacher obsessed over winning this year’s Mathalon competition.

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Marry Me is a bit wonky, specifically in its tone and overall message. It’s ending feels like a complete shift and misdirect from what the rest of the film is building up to. Character decisions don’t really make complete sense, and the storytelling feels off at certain points. With that being said, I was never completely pulled out of the film.

For me, this was a hangout film. There aren’t very many non-Wes Anderson, non-Cars-franchise Owen Wilson films, so I’ll take them when I can get them. It wasn’t buttoned up by any stretch of the imagination, but it worked for what I was expecting it to be.

Unfortunately, the most important part of the film that didn’t work, and really the elephant in the room, was the music. To quickly dive into my not-so-credible music criticism part of my Marry Me review, I thought the soundtrack felt like generic, up-beat pop mess. It uses the film medium as a way to sell underdeveloped music in a palatable fashion.

Marry Me is a Valentine’s Day hit-or-miss flick, depending on who you talk to. It pushes just enough of the right buttons to be wholesome and sweet, even if it doesn’t take your breath away.

EDIT: I just saw the trailer for this movie. I feel like I would’ve had a completely different response to the film. Man oh man, that trailer gives away quite a lot.

Rating

Genre: Comedy, Romance

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