Movie Review Madness

Rebel Wilson is a comedic force. She just cracks me up. Thus, on Sunday,  I went to see Isn’t It Romantic? hoping for silly laughs, a no-brainer flick. Mission accomplished.  My five dollars admission gave me frothy, frivolous time well spent.  It beat sitting home with Ray and his Daytona 500  - I mean the cars just go around and around.

We see young Natalie watching Pretty Woman and her mother tells her that’s a waste of time. Love isn’t remotely like that for girls like her – chubby, normal, etc.  We meet grown-up Natalie (Rebel Wilson) and she’s an architect in New York, lives in a crappy walk-up, has a good guy friend (cute, charming, funny Adam Devine) at work, and an assistant (Betty Gilpin) who watches rom-coms all the time. Natalie has no use for romance or love. She’s cynical – just wants to succeed at work. Her current project is for an arrogant billionaire (handsome Liam Hemsworth - who shows his comedic chops).

Getting off a subway, Natalie’s mugged, hits her head, and wakes up in an alternate universe – NYC is clean, her apartment is huge, guys are ogling her, and Liam finds her “beguiling”. Every single rom-com cliché is played out, and Natalie knows this is crazy, but slowly works with it. It’s laugh out loud funny, and Rebel carries the flick. Oh, and of course, you root for her to find the true love she’s meant to find.  Almost like when Dorothy in Oz realizes there’s no place like home, Natalie learns to live and love and see what’s within reach.

Corny, cheesy, and hilarious.  Isn’t It Romantic? Is perfect for a cold, dreary February afternoon. Heck, I believe in rom-com fun.