Ever since I first saw “Pitch Perfect” in 2012 at my local movie theater, I have been obsessed with Rebel Wilson. Her humor, subpar singing talent and her message of body positivity has led me to follow her career by seeing every movie she’s been in.
“What to Expect When You’re Expecting,” “Bridesmaids,” and “How to Be Single” are some of my personal favorites, although I couldn’t help but wish that Wilson would one day be the female lead instead of a side character. So, of course I ran to the movie theater when “Isn’t It Romantic” finally arrived in my town.
Wilson stars as New York City architect Natalie, a cynic of the well-loved romantic comedy and who is also unaware of how talented and loved she is. For a movie that makes fun of romantic comedy tropes, they sure do use a lot of them (even when they weren’t making fun of them). I think you can tell where this is going.
After going on a rant about how terrible and misleading rom-coms are to young girls, one of Natalie’s work-friends tells her to “open up” and be more trusting of people. Immediately after, Natalie gets on the subway and is noticed by a guy standing off to the side. Trying to be more “open,” she gets off, he approaches her, they exchange pleasantries, and then he grabs her purse and attempts to mug her.
Natalie fights back and is finally able to retrieve her purse, but then runs right into a pole, knocking her unconscious, and transporting her to an alternative universe where every single romantic comedy trope would be brought up at one time or another.
The movie follows Natalie as she tries to figure out how to escape this world, ultimately coming to the conclusion that loving herself would bring her back to reality.
I love the idea of the film. I think it has an empowering message and a kick-ass plot, but I just feel like something was lacking. I really wanted to love it, I really did. But, I just couldn’t. I’m sorry. I know you were hoping for the best. Unfortunately, the movie did not live up to the commercials.
Don’t get me wrong: the film was entertaining, visually stunning and funny as hell, but the fact that everything worked out perfectly in the end just didn’t sit well with me.
If the film was making fun of all the things wrong with romantic comedies, then why did it employ them in the “reality” part of the movie? I get that Natalie had come to the realization that romantic comedies aren’t all crap and important messages can actually come out of them, but it surprised me that the film would spend an hour using romantic comedy tropes – like the female protagonist being weirdly clumsy and the sex scenes just cutting to the next morning – only to use some of these tropes in Natalie’s real life, like getting the guy and impressing her boss.
Maybe it’s just me, but I was hoping for something else.
It’s not that the film was bad because it wasn’t, it just wasn’t what I was expecting and, of course, I overhyped it in my mind before I saw the film. But, then again, I was expecting the movie to be side-splittingly funny like Wilson’s other films, but it kind of fell flat in that respect.
It was funny, but the commercials definitely displayed some of the funniest parts of the movie. I still enjoyed this movie and would definitely watch it again.
And I would still recommend that you see it for yourself because who knows if I really know what I’m talking about?
Rating: 6.5/10