Director: Todd Strauss-Schulson
Writer: Dana Fox
Cast: Rebel Wilson, Adam Devine, Liam Hemsworth, and Priyanka Chopra
Natalie is a hopeless anti-romantic. She’s given up on love and is content living her life with good friends and a disobedient puppy. A close encounter with a mugger turns her life upside down and she finds herself trapped in her worst nightmare, a romantic comedy! Now she must navigate through the clichés to find her way out of the fantasy and back to reality before it’s too late.
Rebel Wilson stars as Natalie, an architect with low self-esteem and a cynical view on romance. Though she has a decent job, she works in a dingy office sharing a cubicle and lives in a common little apartment in Queens with her disobedient pup. She doesn’t look like the typical leading lady either, a fact made even more apparent when a stranger asks her to stop his runaway food cart with her body. She reluctantly stops the cart and is rewarded by the vendor complimenting her cement truck body. Natalie strikes a sexy pose and shrugs the encounter off, moving on with her day. Don’t dust off your protest signs just yet, there is no fat shaming here. The truck comment is the only reference to her size, the remainder of the film is more about her jaded views than her outer appearance. In fact, in the first act, all of the actors look completely average, devoid of the heavily made-up movie magic we expect. Once the fantasy sequence starts, everything gets an upgrade, from her dusty little cubicle to her dirty little pup.
Like so many romcoms before it, Isn’t It Romantic honors each and every cliché but with one clear distinction, this protagonist is fully aware and calls out every single trope with realistic confusion and frustration. From the unrealistically large New York apartment to the surprise gay sidekick, the film takes on each and every time-honored romcom staple. Essentially, this film does for Romantic Comedies what Scary Movie did for horror films, poking fun at the formulaic nonsense at every turn. In one of the most memorable scenes, Natalie reluctantly jumps onstage at a karaoke bar starting a sing-along that morphs into a heavily choreographed dance number, leaving Natalie to wonder how everyone knew the steps. As with all of the romantic comedies before it, Isn’t It Romantic evolves into a message about self-love followed by a final sequence that wraps up the story and shows our protagonist learning from her mistakes.
Along for this hilarious ride is Liam Hemsworth, as Blake the rich douchebag, Priyanka Chopra as Ms. Perfect, and Adam Devine as the overlooked best friend. Each role is played to perfection with each character honoring their familiar roles with exaggerated effect. Blake starts off as a wealthy dreamboat constantly complimenting a bewildered Natalie before showing his true colors. Chopra is Isabella, a wealthy yoga ambassador and swimsuit model who falls for Natalie’s best friend Josh after he saves her from choking. Lastly, Devine is the sweet, thoughtful, best friend who is in love with the real Natalie. Naturally, Natalie is oblivious to his advances until he falls for someone else. There are no surprises in this film and that’s oddly part of the fun. Each frame is a nod to classic romantic comedy, invoking memories of some of the most cherished films of the genre. Thoughtful, witty, and fun! Isn’t It Romantic trades feels for laughs without losing its message.
Isn’t It Romantic hits theaters, February 13, 2019!