Isn’t It Romantic

Release Date: February 13, 2019
Runtime: 89 minutes
Rating: PG-13
Studio: Warner Bros.
Director: Todd Strauss-Schulson
Cast: Rebel Wilson; Liam Hemsworth; Adam Devine; Priyanka Chopra; Betty Gilpin; Brandon Scott Jones; Jennifer Saunders

Owing an unusually large debt to Pretty Woman (even down to the wardrobe), Isn’t It Romantic combines meta elements of Groundhog Day and just about every other romantic comedy that has ever existed. Natalie (Rebel Wilson) is a hopeless schlub of a rising star architect who works at a company seemingly populated by people who, in movies like this, typically work for fashion magazines. Naively for a New Yorker, Natalie mistakes an attempted mugging on a subway platform one afternoon for a meet-cute and slams slapstick-ey into a pole after fighting off her aggressive attacker. After waking up in an impossibly luxurious hospital emergency room, Natalie steps out of the hospital into an insanely hyperbolic perception of fabulous New York City. She finds the City uncharacteristically alive with color, strangers are suddenly catcalling her on the street, and most prominently, her apartment has gone from NYC shoebox-chic to NYC absurdly spacious and ostentatious. In a panic, Natalie calls 911 whereupon the dispatcher humorously and unbelievably confirms that Natalie’s problems are a) her apartment is huge, and b) she has all the shoes she could possibly want. Returning to work, it appears as though Natalie has indeed gone loco since no one can explain to her the abrupt romanticization of her life. The movie’s conceit is that whereas Natalie has previously decried romantic comedies (and all common tropes pertaining thereto) as unrealistic and avoidant, after her smack on the head, she has awoken to find herself trapped in one…and it’s PG-13!! (A cute running gag involves diegetic sound – a horn, voices, etc. – masking Natalie’s voice whenever she wants to scream “FUCK”).

Isn’t It Romantic presents an interesting concept and the romantic comedy as a genre is always fertile ground for parody. Nonetheless, this movie, while energetically performed by a game cast, lacks wit, and inoffensively bounces along to a foregone (and rather contradictory) conclusion. Rebel Wilson is a forceful and unique talent: she is sickeningly funny, peppy, and unafraid to go for the joke. Unfortunately, she is underserved in this case by a supporting cast that offers nothing substantial in the way of support. Adam Devine is a likeable guy and it is nice to see a non-Liam Hemsworth-type (or Liam Hemsworth, for that matter) as a romantic lead. Yet I fear that Mr. Devine’s particular talents are better served in bro-comedies like his recent Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates, not female-driven rom-coms. Hemsworth, as the handsome billionaire (is there any other kind?) who initially wins Natalie’s heart is nice to look at, but bland. The same goes for Priyanka Chopra, who fills out the romantic foursome.

Wilson’s schtick is to underline the absurdities of everyday life by pointing them out in casual asides and while this is funny for a time, it eventually wears its welcome. If this same person were utilizing this tactic in conversation at a party, you’d sooner or later eye roll yourself over to a more interesting conversation. As likeable as Rebel Wilson is, a little of this technique goes a long way. Isn’t It Romantic was obviously intended as an opportunity for Wilson to move into leading roles and stretch her comedic (and romantic) wings after the Pitch Perfect series. However, given the slight story and bump-on-the-head setup we’ve seen dozens of times before, Wilson doesn’t seem to have stretched very much. If she wants to take on self-empowerment comedies (and we could use a few good movies on that front), I would love to see her make use of what are clearly awesome talents in a role that relies less on her physicality and pratfalls and more on her intelligence and charm.

Director Todd Strauss-Schulson offers nothing new to the romantic comedy formula other than a few dynamically staged musical sequences that take nice advantage of the two-dimensional spatiality of the medium. It’s too bad that when the musical numbers come to a climax, Isn’t It Romantic can’t sustain the momentum and carry the vibrancy through to the rest of the film.