Marry Me: A Delightful Solution for Valentine’s Day – Update

Name me a J.Lo rom-com and I’ve probably seen it. The Wedding Planner? Pfft, of course. Maid in Manhattan? Ah yes, definitely. Monster-in-Law? Not my favourite, yet I’ve watched it more than once. Much like Meg Ryan is known as the rom-com queen, Jennifer Lopez has also crafted her own lane in the genre, so I was thrilled to learn that she would be returning with Marry Me in 2022.

Lopez plays Kat Valdez, a megastar in the world of music, about to get married to the handsome singer Bastian in front of millions of people. In terms of celebrity couples, these two are pretty much at the top of the food chain, and their concert wedding ceremony is the event of the year. Then, disaster strikes. A video leaks just before the ceremony, which shows Bastian cheating on Kat with her assistant. Kat’s shattered and thrown for a loop, unsure if she should just marry Bastian now and deal with the consequences later.

At this point, Kat’s already had a few failed marriages under her belt, and she can’t understand why things keep going up in smoke for her when it comes to love. As she’s talking to the audience and unburdens her heart, she catches sight of Charlie (Owen Wilson) holding a ‘Marry Me’ sign, looking at her with such empathy. In that moment, she decides to marry him, and the world is stunned as the pair exchange vows, pledging to spend a lifetime together when they don’t even know each other.

In the light of day, it would be easy to forget that this even happened, but Kat doesn’t want to. She wants to commit to what she started, and though Charlie has reservations, he agrees to go along with this marriage thing if he gets to keep his life exactly as it is. The premise is very much Notting Hill, where a famous actress falls in love with a regular man. While Marry Me isn’t iconic the way Notting Hill is, it’s nevertheless a very sweet movie, about two people getting a second chance at love.

Kat and Charlie are also at a more mature phase in their lives, and I love that an older couple’s at the centre of a mainstream rom-com. I guess it helps that both Lopez and Wilson are ageless. Lopez in particular looks amazing, and I adore all her outfits in the movie. Top favourite is probably the bowling outfit – only J.Lo could make casual look so chic. All the new music in the film made me feel like I was at her concert, and considering how starved I am for the live music experience, I so appreciated this aspect of the movie.

As the two start to spend more time together, they find that they enjoy each other’s company, and even when Kat’s out of town, she’s still calling him to chat on the phone. Lopez and Wilson have natural chemistry together; it isn’t exactly fireworks, but there are a few sexy moments in there. The main obstacle is that their lives are very contrasting: Kat’s a celebrity, so nearly every single part of her life is documented, while Charlie abhors social media. It would be easy for Kat to return to Bastian, because she could keep her life exactly the way it is. On the other hand, life with Charlie would require compromise on both sides.

The central idea that drives Marry Me is the essence of living in the moment. If we cast our minds into worrying about an uncertain future, we would assume things fail more than they succeed, and walk away before we get burned. All we can do in love and relationships is feel what we do now, and enjoy the moments we get together. I don’t know, I just really related to the message of the film, especially since it comes at a time where we’re all grappling with the uncertainty caused by the pandemic.

Taking a leap of faith is scary because you have no idea where things would end up, but we can’t be so afraid of failure that we never try at all. My first date with my husband was a disaster, but I took a chance and agreed to a second date, which is why he’s here with me now, holding my hand and kissing my cheek as we watch Marry Me together. So, who knows if Kat and Charlie will continue to be together years into the future, what matters is that they want to make it work now, and that’s a beautiful thing.

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