The bizarre message of Isn’t It Romantic seems to be, if you’re trapped in a rom-com, however much you hate it, start embracing everything.
Isn’t It Romantic Synopsis
Talented architect Natalie suffers from low esteem and from being side-lined at work. She is also convinced that a mundane girl like her would never find magical true love. One day after work, she is mugged at a subway station, thereafter hitting her head and losing consciousness. When she comes to, she finds herself trapped in a worse nightmare. Suddenly, her life is a romantic comedy, with everything down to her pugnacious pup beautified and sanitised. It is then up to Natalie to decide whether to indulge in or flee from this sickly sweet fantasy.
Snappy Review
I watched Isn’t It Romantic the day it was released on Netflix, drawn to it by the hilarious trailer.
Having enjoyed some of Rebel Wilson’s other performances, I was also curious as to how Wilson would diss the romantic comedy genre. Of note, Isn’t It Romantic is hardly the first film to go down this particular satirical direction. To me, whether the movie shines, or not, thus depends on whether the show is capable of more than just blatant mockery. Whether it can do more than just dish out the usual comical disdain.
Well, it was a half-half kind of a thing. There weren’t many “new” jokes, put it that way, but what’s there was done with finesse and skill. Rebel and her co-leads also threw in devoted performances, particularly Betty Gilpin who was practically unrecognizable in between her two personas.
Now, these warrant me giving at least three stars in my rating, and I would have done so had the final third of the movie not adopted such a contradictory message. In the thick of her disgust and disdain, confused and suffering Natalie suddenly does a turnabout and embraces the fantasies. Following by which she goes all out to do something that is to me, downright unethical.
What’s the deal here? What’s the actual message too, for a movie that seems so determined to engrave in stone its negative opinions about the rom-com genre?
Perhaps it’s because there’s no other way to advance the story. That is, without everything becoming too dark and unfunny. Or maybe, maybe, it was intended to be a satire of a satire. You know, those sort of triply-layered narrations that seek to be self-deprecatory and …
Nah. Just joking. I think it was just a case of a quick and unbothered wrap-up. A really weak wrap-up that ignored the original objective, and opted for an easy solution. Hate to put it this way but the ending was seriously disappointing too.
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