Summary
The excellent writing, the charisma of Jennifer Lopez, and the charm of Owen Wilson make Marry Me the delightful rom-com that will make your heart smile.
This review of the Peacock film Marry Me (2022) does not contain spoilers.
It is Valentine’s Day weekend and there are so many movies to watch this weekend, but I think Marry Me (2022) might be the perfect movie to snuggle up to your significant other and enjoy.
The big day has arrived for superstar couple Kat Valdez (Jennifer Lopez) and Bastian (Maluma). They will perform their song Marry Me together simultaneously as they are about to get married in front of the whole world. Next, we meet Charlie Gilbert (Owen Wilson), a Math teacher who is a divorced father of one who is trying to be a good dad. Shortly after our brief introduction to our leads, we meet Parker Deebs (Sarah Silverman), one of Charlie’s fellow teachers at the school. Parker had her heartbroken by her girlfriend and has extra tickets to Kat/Bastian concert, to which she forces Charlie to go.
As they are set to hit the big stage, Kat sees the page six news break that Bastain cheated on her with her assistant. Then, as we saw in the trailer, Kat sees Charlie in the crowd with a Marry Me sign and marries him on the stage. The world goes crazy, Parker is excited, his daughter Lou is excited, but Charlie is thoroughly confused. Post nuptials, Collin Calloway, Kat’s agent, suggests that they pay off Charlie, but Kat has other plans for the couple. The moment from here led to a press conference with Kat and Charlie, a brilliantly written and acted scene that truly set the stage for what was ahead in the film.
If you sit in a question long enough, an answer finds you. – Charlie
I mention this when talking about rom-coms or on-screen couples. You have to have chemistry to make us want to care about what happens. If we don’t care about the couple, it doesn’t matter how good the script is; the entire movie will fail. So on the surface, you have two polar opposites when it comes to Kat and Charlie and even more when you think about the actors, Jennifer Lopez and Owen Wilson. However, when you look deep down at both the characters they play in Marry Me and their body of work outside of the film, they are a match made in heaven.
I can’t pinpoint another actor that would have played the role of Charlie as good as Owen Wilson did. You are looking at a Math teacher who has cheesy jokes, reads a book before going to bed at 8 PM and is your prototypical good guy. If you close your eyes while describing Charlie, you envision Wilson. Wilson has the perfect charm to pull off the believability to have the charm and ability to make a woman laugh to make someone like Kat fall in love with him. Wilson is an underrated actor on many levels and his comedic timing is magnificent.
As I mentioned with the press conference, it worked because Lopez and Wilson share great chemistry. At times you see Lopez possibly playing herself within Kat, but it never deters you from anything other than falling for their love story that is growing at every turn. They play well off each other, and Lopez can command your attention no matter what she is doing every time she is on the screen.
I’d be crazy not to mention the supporting cast here that was fantastic at lifting the story and both Kat and Charlie. Starting with Sarah Silverman, she was perfect for playing the opposite of Owen Wilson, and my goodness is she just so funny. John Bradley also brought a ton to the table as the agent of Jennifer Lopez and Chloe Coleman was as adorable in this as she was in My Spy. I loved the entire cast.
If I were looking to criticize something, it would be the songs. There were a couple of them that I did like, but some felt downright bad and I questioned why. I might have a theory on maybe it was on purpose because of the arc, but I could be wrong. And I do believe the run time could’ve been trimmed a few minutes and not lost anything.
Overall, Marry Me is a delight because of the fantastic writing and performances across the board. They did a great job setting up Kat and Charlie to fall in love and bringing back Bastain to question it all. Marry Me sits perfectly next to The In Between as the perfect movie to get brownie points with your significant other this holiday weekend.
What did you think of the Peacock film Marry Me (2022)? Comment below.
