Isn't It Romantic

Isn't It Romantic is a charming and very funny film that gets a ton of mileage out of its lead star, Rebel Wilson, who comes across as very likable in her first starring role.  She uses her trademark deadpan humor and sly delivery to great effect, but she also manages to find the heart and sympathy of her character.  The movie she's in walks the fine line between tribute and parody, where romantic comedy cliches are both ridiculed and celebrated, often in the same scene.  Wilson's performance gives the same difficult balancing act, as she plays a roman who hates romantic comedies who suddenly finds herself trapped in the most sanitized and fantasy-driven one imaginable.

This is a movie that not only pokes fun at past romantic comedies like Pretty Woman, 13 Going on 30, Sweet Home Alabama and My Best Friend's Wedding, but it also dares itself to ask some serious questions about the plots of these kind of movies.  Questions like, why is it always raining when lovers kiss?  Why does the lead heroine have a gay best friend, and what does that friend do all day when he's not helping her picking out clothes for a montage?  And if there is another woman in the same office as the heroine, why does the other woman have to be her mortal enemy?  Why can't they just work together?  The screenplay by TV actress Erin Cardillo, Dana Fox (How to Be Single) and Katie Silberman is smart enough to tow the line between respecting the appeal of these kind of movies, while also pointing out just how ridiculous they can be.  And director Todd Strauss-Schulson has shot a large majority of the film with a sun-drenched lens that makes everything look like an episode of Martha Stewart.  According to the press notes, he watched 65 romantic comedies over the course of two weeks in order to prepare for this.  He definitely shows his work.  Could the movie have been even smarter and funnier with poking fun at the genre.  Definitely.  But what we get here is still very good.

Wilson plays Natalie, a struggling architect in New York who lives in a dingy and small apartment where her only company is a dog who barely listens to or respects her.  The people at her job don't pay her much mind, either.  When she shows up for a meeting, one of the big shots mistakes her for the coffee girl.  The only bright spot in her life is her co-worker Josh (Wilson's Pitch Perfect co-star Adam Devine), who clearly loves her, but she just can't notice.  Natalie hates romantic comedies, thinking that they are nothing but fantasies and lies that Hollywood sells to gullible women. (In the film's opening scene, we get a funny flashback with Natalie as a child watching Pretty Woman with her mom, and her mom explaining why Hollywood will never make a movie about real women like them.) One night while heading home, Natalie gets jumped by a mugger after her purse, and when she tries to escape, she bonks her head on a pole.  Just last week, I talked about the "Magical Head Injury" plot devise that movies are so fond of these days in my review of What Men Want, and sure enough, Natalie somehow finds herself transported into the world of the PG-13 romantic comedy.

She knows something is off right away when she finds herself in a lovely and sun-drenched hospital room, being looked over by an impossibly handsome doctor.  She steps out onto the streets where she finds New York has been transformed into a fantasy land where flowers are everywhere, all the businesses have become cupcake and bridal shops, and the air smells fresh and clean.  Not only that, but every single man now notices her.  Mere seconds after leaving the hospital, she has a run-in with the handsome Australian billionaire, Blake (Liam Hemsworth), who can't stop talking about how beguiling Natalie is.  He takes her home to her apartment in his limo, and she finds that her apartment has been transformed into a spacious suite with huge windows, and a massive closet with every pair of shoe she's ever desired in life.  Her dog now does tricks on command for the camera, and her neighbor across the hall (Brandon Scott Jones) has turned from the shady individual he was in the real world, into a flamboyant and flaming gay stereotype who lives only to help Natalie with her relationships and to offer advice.

Things have changed at work, too.  Everyone now respects her opinion, except for her former friend at her job, Whitney (Betty Gilpin), who is now her bitter rival, as evidenced that every time there is two women working at the same job in a romantic comedy, they have to be put against each other.  Her other friend, Josh, is also now madly in love with the model-like "Yoga Ambassador" Isabella (Priyanka Chopra), and they start planning their wedding mere days after they have their own romantic run-in.  Natalie must now figure out what she needs to do to return to her old life, while also learning lessons about the mistakes she has made in past relationships, and in neglecting Josh's affections back in the real world.  She enjoys a whirlwind fling with the handsome and charming Blake (who takes her on rides on his yacht and private helicopter), but is it what she really wants out of life?  More importantly, is it Josh that she really wants, or is she just supposed to be happy with herself?

Isn't It Romantic eventually does take the form of the kind of romantic comedy that it was previously spoofing, but even when it does, it remains funny thanks to Wilson's strong comedic performance.  The rest of the cast also stand out, especially Hemsworth as the goofy romantic billionaire who automatically becomes smitten with Natalie for no real good reason.  The movie is constantly walking a balancing act between ridicule and respect, and it always manages to find the right mix.  It's self-aware, but it also knows why audiences love these cliches in the first place.  And at only 88 minutes, the movie is so quick and breezy, it never overstays its welcome.  The movie has been edited in such a way that it seldom if ever drags.  There is no filler, and it simply goes from one gag to the next.  Again, it is Wilson who carries the entire film, and she does so effortlessly, willingly throwing herself into every situation the movie throws at her.  And yes, that includes the standard overly choreographed musical number when her friends and her get together for karaoke.

This is one of those movies that desperately wants to please its audience, and it succeeds by giving us a winning mix of smart self-awareness, and embracing what makes these films work in the first place.  It's made by smart people who know the ins and outs of the genre, and why they can ultimately work when they're done well.  As the film started out, I was laughing at the way it was spoofing the conventions of the genre.  But as it went on, I found myself smiling because I was actually wrapped into the characters.

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