Isn't It Romantic (2019) Review

"I don't think we actually did anything.  It just cut to the next morning."
-Natalie



Natalie (Rebel Wilson) doesn't like romantic-comedies and has no time for a relationship.  After being knocked unconscious during a mugging, Natalie wakes up to find her world has turned into a rom-com.  Much to her displeasure, Natalie has to get a man to fall in love with her if she ever wants to get her life back to normal.


What Works:

I actually love the premise of Isn't It Romantic.  As someone who doesn't like romantic-comedies, being trapped in one would be my worst nightmare.  The scenes where Natalie wants out of the madness are by far the best of the film and actually really funny.

The comedy is pretty hit-and-miss, but the stuff that works is really good.  Most of the good stuff comes from the jokes made at the expense of rom-com tropes.  I think people who don't like rom-coms and those that do will both find these jokes funny.

I really appreciate the change in style from the real world to the rom-com world.  They feel extremely different and it's easy to get sucked into the rom-com aspects because of these style choices.  There are some really great directorial decisions from Todd Strauss-Schulson.

The supporting cast all does a great job of committing fully to the silliness of the plot.  They make this film believable and I bought all of their over-the-top behavior.


What Sucks:

As I said, the comedy doesn't always the land.  The stuff making fun of rom-coms is great, but the more generic jokes fall flat most of the time.

The film also doesn't do enough with its premise.  It doesn't take long for Natalie to buy into the rom-com situation and get a man to love her.  I think the movie would have been more fun if Natalie fought against the rom-com tropes more rather than buying into them.  Also, the ending could have been better stronger if they did some sort of anti-rom-com ending instead of what we actually got.

Finally, the introduction of Natalie's neighbor, Donny (Brandon Scott Jones), is really strange.  She goes over to deliver a note to him, but they skip a scene where she finds the note and explains what it is.  It's a quick scene that doesn't flesh anything out so we didn't learn anything about their relationship until much later.  It's a weird scene that could have uses a little more explanation.


Verdict:

Isn't It Romantic is a fun little movie that works more often than it doesn't.  The premise is solid, there's some great humor, the direction is well done, and the supporting cast does a great job.  Not all of the humor lands and I wish they had done more with the premise, but this movie still has got it going on.

 7/10: Good 

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