I put off bothering to see Marry Me… it wasn’t high priority and I’d already watched a few too many romances/romcom over Valentine’s. But I finally broke down and gave it a shot… and would you look at that! I really rather liked it. Weird.

Marry Me stars Jennifer Lopez as (get this) a mega pop star who plans to get married at one of her concerts (to be lived streamed to millions). When she finds out her fiancé was cheating on her, she picks Owen Wilson out of the crowd and marries him – a stranger – instead. Will they stick this marriage out? Will they fall in love after the wedding? Is this a rom-com?

OK, so the premise is contrived and feels like some fan’s late night fantasy of his or her favorite star. Sure… but all that matters is whether the movie makes it work. And it does. This movie reminds us how bright and personable Lopez can be… and somehow she has charisma with the albino (their joke, not mine) Owen Wilson. Now, I have nothing against Owen Wilson but I just didn’t expect he’d work out in this rom-com… but he winds up super charming and charismatic too.

They work together and that makes the movie work. But the writing is also pretty good including the scene where these two actually seal the deal. It felt open and honest and direct without the usual Hollywood histrionics or misunderstandings or sap.

Yes, the standard issue last act breakup has to happen and the reasons are a little contrived and sudden… but at least it’s consistent with the situation (uncomfortable average Joe in the superstar spotlight). It was pretty predictable and even has a version of the generic “race to the X” where X is the play, the performance, or whatever.

But, hell, who cares when the actors are so contagious and the writing, within the limits of a rom-com, is actually pretty good. I shouldn’t have sat on this one… it was fun and joyful and hug-worthy.

Score: 86