Valentine’s weekend greeted movie goers with a satirical take on the overdone love story plot of most romantic comedies with the release of “Isn’t it Romantic?” on Feb. 15.
The film, starring Rebel Wilson as the protagonist and resident love-hater Natalie, spends a majority of its hour and 30 minute run time battling between mocking what’s typical and following the unspoken rules of what makes a rom com.
Upon being mugged in a subway station, Wilson’s character is knocked unconscious and wakes to find her whole life has turned into one big, happy and a little nauseating romantic comedy. Much to Wilson’s dismay, she must let the events of the plot completely unfold before her life can return to normal.
We all know where it goes from here.
Boy meets girl. He’s wealthy and incredibly attractive, and fortunately for viewers is played by Liam Hemsworth with his incredible Australian accent.
There’s a meet-cute, involving the main girl doing something clumsy, yet adorable and not relatable (no one looks that good when they get hit by a car). The two future love birds fight it for a while, usually with the help of trusty sidekicks and some other woman attempting to spoil their connection, until they meet in the end for true love’s kiss and the final credits roll.
While that plot is evident in “Isn’t it Romantic?,” it’s merely there for Wilson to criticize. From the moment she wakes up in the hospital, Wilson dutifully points out everything wrong with the storyline many adore.
It’s unrealistic to find love at first sight. No human being is that seemingly perfect or sounds like an Ed Sheeran song every time they speak. Knowing you’ve found the one within two weeks is more crazy than it is cute. Don’t even get her started on the gay best friend trope.
Wilson’s performance is convincing. Her own unabashed self-confidence shines through in each scene and her portrayal of the fear she is not enough due to her appearance feels genuine. The moments her armor cracks and smile wavers, audience members can feel their hearts tug as they remember how hard moments of self-doubt can be.
Finally, there’s a female character in a rom com that women don’t have to wish they could compare to – Wilson is real. She’s a woman who doesn’t understand her worth and isn’t living up to her full potential because the world has trained her to stay quiet and sink into her seat if you don’t look like Julia Roberts. Rooting for her feels like second nature throughout the movie.
But, the storyline that steals the show is the real life of Wilson’s character that gets woven through the fantasy of Natalie (Wilson) and Blake’s (Hemsworth) fairytale love. Natalie’s loyal best friend and secret admirer, Josh, is played by Adam Devine. This man is the epitome of what being friend-zoned means. Natalie never even considers giving him the time of day, despite his constant attempts to ask her out or his steadfast and sweet support of both her career and personal growth. Seriously, this is the man audience members should be swooning over.
Which is truthfully just another stereotypical plot line of finding out it was your best friend all along (“13 Going on 30” anyone?). The movie simultaneously tries to fight the idea of love at first sight by utilizing the idea that your best friend must be the one, both of which we’ve seen a million times before. But we still love it, don’t we?
“Isn’t it Romantic” does a masterful job of discarding the bad aspects of these movies and staying true to the good. We are still watching a movie that depicts life through rose-colored glasses, but these more relatable characters might be what the genre needs to shift from predictable to genuine.
