Isn’t It Romantic: Movie Review

Isn't It Romantic plays fast and loose with every cliché in the romantic comedy genre to hilarious results. Starring comic force of nature Rebel Wilson (Pitch Perfect) as a New York City architect named Natalie in her first-ever lead performance, the movie opens by showing that Natalie was obsessed with the movie Pretty Woman as a child in the ‘90s. Her mother eventually convinced Natalie that romantic comedies are filled with lies, and no man will ever marry her since she’s heavyset.

As an adult in New York City, Natalie lives in an insanely tiny apartment and has to trudge to an office where she gets zero respect from everyone, except for her best friend Josh (Adam Devine), who’s secretly in love with her. Natalie hopelessly pines for a handsome billionaire client named Blake (Liam Hemsworth), who utterly disregards her and treats her like the office coffee girl.

However, things change when Natalie bangs her head into a pole while escaping a subway mugger and wakes up to a shinier, hopelessly happier world in which everyone and everything around her seems to be part of a giant real-life romantic comedy. Suddenly, Blake is obsessed with her, and her newly glowing confidence is making her a star at work. Her humble hovel also becomes an endlessly large, palatial condo filled with dozens of glamorous shoes and outfits that fit her perfectly.

In order to return to the real world, Natalie has to convince someone to fall in love with her, so she sets her sights on winning Blake over. When Josh suddenly is engaged to a supermodel (Priyanka Chopra), Natalie has to decide which guy will bring her true happiness.

While this no doubt sounds like another predictable rom-com, the writing in Isn't It Romantic and the direction by Todd Strauss-Schulson are magical. The movie tears apart seemingly hundreds of ridiculous rom-com tropes while constantly creating fresh takes on the timeworn genre. The direction keeps everything moving with incredible energy, including two incredible song and dance numbers that had the audience applauding and cheering loudly. Even more appealing is the fact that the movie is written and performed with a lot of class and taste compared to most current comedy movies.

That said, there are many profanities and obscenities, implied sex and many sexual innuendos. There’s also brief comical violence. The movie’s main message promotes taking a stand for genuine love and serious relationships over shallow sex-based affairs. The main character is also kind-hearted and selfless, though of course flawed. A delight from start to finish, most adults and teenagers should find this a great night out, but extreme caution is advised because of the foul language and sexual jokes.