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‘Marry Me’ is a rom-com tailor made for Jennifer Lopez
By Katie Walsh
Tribune News Service
I
n the past, rom-coms starring
Jennifer Lopez often saddled
her with professions that are
just too unbelievable. “Maid
in Manhattan”? “The Wedding
Planner”? Not our Jenny from
the Block. So it’s refreshing to
see J.Lo, in a much-heralded
return to the romantic comedy
fold, playing a character who just
makes sense for her: a global
pop superstar. But it’s not just
a professional life that Lopez
shares with her character, Kat
Valdez, in “Marry Me,” directed
by Kat Coiro, based on a graphic
novel by Bobby Crosby, and
Barry Wetcher/Universal Pictures
Jennifer Lopez, left, and Owen Wilson in “Marry Me,” directed by Kat Coiro.
that’s a good thing.
Lopez brings authenticity
to her portrayal of Kat Valdez,
a heightened version of Lopez
herself. Kat Valdez plays huge
concerts at Madison Square
Garden wearing spangly uni-
tards; J.Lo plays huge concerts
at Madison Square Garden wear-
ing spangly unitards. Kat Valdez
has been married three times;
J.Lo has been married three
times. Kat Valdez has a messy
public breakup with a charm-
ing cad, Bastian (Colombian
Latin pop singer Maluma), who is
caught on social media kissing
her assistant; J.Lo had a messy
public breakup with a charm-
ing cad caught on social media
messaging a Bravo star. Kat Val-
dez fi nds true love with a bland
white guy, Charlie (Owen Wilson),
and J.Lo, well, she’s found true
love again with her favorite bland
white guy, Ben Affl eck.
This delightfully meta Venn
diagram of character and star is
placed within a preposterously
high-concept scenario for a
rom-com. Massive superstar Kat
is publicly humiliated at what’s
supposed to be her wedding to
Bastian, a huge concert at which
they will perform their duet “Mar-
ry Me” before saying their vows.
Right after she performs a num-
ber dressed as a (checks notes)
golden crucifi x, surrounded by
sexy latex-clad nuns, she dons a
wedding dress right before she
discovers Bastian’s infi delity, an
illicit smooch caught on camera.
In a moment of desperation, Kat
sees a sign in the crowd, held
by a milquetoast math teacher
and single dad, Charlie (Wilson)
reading “Marry Me?” She says
yes and the two get married on
stage, at fi rst sight, in front of
the whole world.
Can these two fall in love
while managing their diff erences
across a high-profi le PR fi asco?
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