Film Review: “Marry Me” (2022)

Something new yet something borrowed.

I’m going to be honest here: While Romantic Comedies are not my first choice in the world of film, I somewhat hope that this film succeeds. I want “Marry Me” to succeed for two reasons: I’d love to see more films with a ridiculously deranged plot (more on that later) and I feel like our current cinematic landscape has been devoid of any sort of balance. Every movie is either a $200 million blockbuster based on an IP (I.e. Marvel, DC, Star Wars) or a dirt cheap Blumhouse movie (“The Purge”, “Old”, “Insidious”). Don’t get me wrong, those are fine but, mid-budget films have been recently relegated to the kids table via streaming.

It’s kind of unfortunate but, understandable. I can go on and on about Disney’s need to be incredibly lazy and recycle everything from the vault. It is, however, a safe move to make especially given the Covid-19 pandemic. While I am enthusiastic for whatever Marvel and DC has to offer, I’m going to make a more considerable effort to use my platform to promote smaller scale films. While the mid-budget movie has found it’s home on streaming services such as Netflix, Hulu, or Prime Video, I still feel supporting them is a solution to the tired grievances that is “all we get are superhero movies”.

That leads us to our current mid-budget release, “Marry Me”. Starring Jennifer Lopez and Owen Wilson, “Marry Me” is about pop icon Kat Valdez (Jlo) who is about to marry R&B star Bastion (Maluma) on stage to their hit song “Marry Me” in front of 20 million fans. Minutes before the show begins, Kat learns from her manager (John Bradley from “Moonfall”) that Bastion was caught having an affair with her assistant. On the other hand, Gary (Owen Wilson) is a divorced father who teaches math. His best friend (Sarah Silverman) acquires tickets to the titular concert and drags Gary and his daughter along. At the concert, Kat starts off by preaching about how love is a lie until she sees Gary holding up a sign that says “Marry Me”. On a whim, she chooses to marry him and chaos ensues.

I’m going to be honest, I’m kind of indifferent to romantic comedies. There are a few that I enjoy such as “Larry Crowne”, “Crazy Rich Asians”, and “The Terminal”. There are also a lot that I could care less for. In other words, I am not this film’s…