From left: Liam Hemsworth as Blake, Rebel Wilson as Natalie and Adam Devine as Josh in New Line Cinema's comedy Isn't It Romantic.Michael Parmelee/Warner Bros.
Isn’t It Romantic
Directed by: Todd Strauss-Schulson
Written by: Erin Cardillo, Dana Fox and Katie Silberman
Starring: Rebel Wilson, Adam Devine and Liam Hemsworth
Classification: PG; 88 minutes
Isn’t It Romantic marks the second time in the past 12 months that a beautiful blond plus-sized comedic actress with the chutzpah of Joe Pesci and the sexual magnetism of Halle Berry needs to have a full-scale concussion in order to realize her own self-worth.
I’m not sure why these movies exist, but goodness knows there’s more coming down the pipeline; trends come in threes. It’s like a bunch of Hollywood studio executives all decided one day over poke bowls and CBD kombucha: “You know, millennial women are in crisis. They need their own heroines, someone with Cheetos crumbs that collect in their cleavage, but without being considered attractive or good at their jobs, that’s far too unrealistic.” Then one suggested, “What about making What Women Want, but helmed by a female protagonist whose hair dried on the subway?” That person got a promotion, Amy Schumer and Rebel Wilson both bought new houses and we all have two new films to watch on a plane.
In last summer’s I Feel Pretty (it’s not as bad as your Facebook friend said it was), Schumer bonks her head on a stationary bike at SoulCycle and wakes up to a world where she believes she’s undeniably gorgeous, despite a baby crying at her supposedly hideous visage.
In Isn’t It Romantic (opening ahead of this Valentine’s Day, but you can also watch Bridget Jones’s Diary drunk with me and my mom), Wilson, playing Natalie, a cynical slovenly architect, overlooked at work as well as by humanity except for the best friend who obviously loves her (Adam Devine). She gets mugged in the subway and slams her head hard on a pole. The next morning, she arises to an alternate universe where she is the leading lady of a cheesy early aughts romantic comedy, replete with a gorgeous walk-in closet, mandatory gay BFF and a handsome WASPy love interest (Liam Hemsworth, very into this).
In both films, our two heroines’ pizza-rat-like existence in New York (also a character) becomes the stuff of a Taylor Swift song as they wine and dine with the 1 per cent and kiss in the rain.
Rebel Wilson plays Natalie, a cynical and overlooked architect who – after hitting her head on a pole – wakes up in an alternate universe where she is the leading lady of a cheesy early aughts romantic comedy.Michael Parmelee/Warner Bros.
New love interests with names such as Blake and Grant look them in the eyes and show them their highly contoured abs; the well-heeled women in their newer, fancier workplaces finally see them as a force to be reckoned with. Eventually, they get all decked out in Miss Piggy couture in the lead up to a big musical set piece. (In I Feel Pretty, it’s a bikini contest on Coney Island; in Isn’t It Romantic, it’s a choreographed karaoke dance routine performed by Wilson set to Whitney Houston’s I Wanna Dance With Somebody.)
Of course, these apparently disgusting size-16 ogres must eventually return to reality once their brain hemorrhages subside. But after finally being seen as gorgeous, glamorous creatures who can achieve their wildest dreams, they realize that once you truly love yourself, you too can speak up at work and end up with a man who looks like Adam Devine.
The two actors at the centre of these high-concept comedies are good, giving and game, but they’ve been cut a raw deal by trite material that belittles their very existence. While I Feel Pretty manages to string along a coherent narrative with some genuine emotional beats, Isn’t It Romantic barely gives its commanding star a plot, let alone a character arc.
Wilson, whose glorious Fat Amy in the Pitch Perfect franchise made her into an icon, has nothing to play in her first leading role, except the vague cynical confusion of being trapped in a lesser Garry Marshall movie. The film is clever in its genre sendup and detailed production design (some running jokes include the fact that trucks bleep out F-bombs and she can’t actually have sex, it just cuts to the next morning; the MTA subway map is shaped like a heart, every interior has silk drapes and bouquets of fresh flowers appear everywhere, even on the subway), but it has no love for its leading lady.
Isn't It Romantic is clever in its genre sendup and detailed production design, but the film barely gives its commanding star (Wilson) a plot, let alone a character arc.Courtesy of Warner Bros. Picture/Warner Bros.
A first act tells us that Natalie dreams being a star architect and experiencing a romantic love affair worthy of Pretty Woman, but once she’s placed into her alternative rom-com timeline, she forgets to show up at work and competes with Priyanka Chopra (playing a supermodel; the movie can’t decide if she’s supposed to be shallow, dumb or mean and settles for none of these) for the romantic affections of … Adam Devine?
It’s a movie far too in love with its clever elevator pitch to even conceive of a three-dimensional heroine with a worthy love interest. A layer of ironic self-awareness that makes fun of bland, by-the-numbers romantic comedies can’t stop the film from being a bland, by-the-numbers romantic comedy. Even 27 Dresses remembered to have its main character show up for work.
You know how a can of La Croix tastes like someone whispered the word “strawberry” into a can of sparkling water? That’s how this “satire” goes down: flavourless, fizzy and unmemorable. It’s also an insult to the very genre it’s critiquing, which, at its worst is still aspirational comfort food, and at its best helps to remind us that true love is something to believe in.
I don’t believe anything that happens in Isn’t It Romantic: Plus-size women do not need to suffer a severe brain injury to realize they are beautiful, good at their jobs and deserving of love. Please tell the executives this joke isn’t funny any more. This is not what women want.
Isn’t It Romantic opens Feb. 13