Starring Rebel Wilson (Pitch Perfect, Bridesmaids), and Liam Hemsworth (The Hunger Games, Independence Day: Resurgence), Isn’t It Romantic sits at an audience score of 60% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Full of romantic comedy tropes, uniquely presented, the story has an interesting comedic take on the oft-loved and sometimes maligned genre.
Wilson plays New York architect Natalie who longs to be noticed for her talents instead of being mistaken for the office coffee girl. In an early scene of exposition, she and her office friend Whitney, played by Betty Gilpin (Ghost Town), cynically outline the common and unrealistic expectations of most romantic comedies.
After being mugged, Natalie wakes up in a real-life version of what she calls, “The Matrix for lonely women”. The city streets are pristine and well-kept. When she accidentally drops something out of her storied apartment window, the person below calls out, “Thanks! I was looking for one of those!” And her apartment is newly remodeled and fully stocked with all of the shoes she could ever want.
She later encounters Hemsworth’s character, Blake, who is immediately smitten with her and emotes that he must be in her life. She remains shocked at all the typical plot points of romantic movies and navigates them with a reluctant affirmation.
When Blake decides to take credit for one of her architecture ideas, Natalie is shaken from the fantasy of it all and follows her character arc to personal growth. Realizing she shouldn’t find her self-worth in others’ opinions of her, she abandons the superficial façade of the perfect cinematic life and decides to pursue the things that matter in life.
Most of the comedic turns come from Wilson who carries the film and has been funnier in other movies with better scripts, but her offbeat sense of humor and physical comedy make for a worthwhile story.
Comedies can be hit or miss for many people, just by the subjective nature of humor, but for a different, comedic take on the unrealistic expectations of romantic comedies, Isn’t It Romantic is a humorous enough hour and a half of breaking stereotypes of what is and isn’t acceptable in the genre.
