J.Lo returns with the type of mid-tier rom-com she churned out on the peak of her early-aughts field workplace success.
No person is aware of the key components of marriage higher than Jennifer Lopez. In 2022, Bennifer tied the knot! The triple menace dared to say the previous 12 months had been the “finest yr” for her! She is the one one who can save us, and definitely one of many solely performers able to spunkily wielding a shotgun in a marriage frock (with out inflicting an excessive amount of offense to fourth-wave feminism) for the in any other case frustratingly common “Shotgun Marriage ceremony”.
If we are able to spend a minute on the journey of her onscreen husband, the casting course of went from Ryan Reynolds (undoubtedly humorous) to Armie Hammer (undoubtedly abhorrent) to, simply two weeks after Hammer dropped out in January 2021 after being accused of sexual abuse, Josh Duhamel: a poor man simply making an attempt to get one other job who immediately needed to fly out to the Dominican Republic with lower than a month’s discover. He did his finest.
The movie, created with vim however sometimes flat humor by “Pitch Excellent” director Jason Moore, seesaws between dysfunctional household comedy, marital drama, haywire gonzo thriller, and fabulous showcase for the megawatt pop star. Lopez performs Darcy whereas Duhamel is her Tom: two almost-weds who convey collectively their headstrong households on an unique island to have a good time their marriage. The one factor worse than the households assembly comes when pirates maintain all of the company, minus the bride and groom, hostage.
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It’s the type of mid-tier rom-com with a twist you’ll discover on the peak of Lopez’s early-aughts field workplace success: a galvanizing stage for Lopez to introduce us to essentially the most fundamental iteration of the “sturdy feminine character.” In a single scene, Darcy rips up her bouffant marriage ceremony costume to disclose stomping fight boots the place her dainty marital heels as soon as had been. Lopez is wise sufficient to supply real resourcefulness and emotion to such a trope, channelling simply as a lot enjoyable because the watery script permits.
The truth that Lopez is now, in spite of everything these years, legally Jennifer Affleck feels related to the benefit of “Shotgun Marriage ceremony.” The movie feels ripped from 2002, or 2003 when you like, which was the final time she and Ben Affleck had been collectively, earlier than rekindling their relationship in April 2021 – which was additionally when the movie wrapped. Certain, there are different issues ripe for dialogue in “Shotgun Marriage ceremony” however Lopez is undoubtedly one of the best factor, and typically being gifted with a time capsule some 20 years later holds the best new thrill of all.
And talking of time capsules, an impressed choice from Moore casts Jennifer Coolidge within the position of Tom’s mom Carol, calling again to Coolidge’s tried-and-tested triumph as an overbearing however not at all times abhorrent maternal determine. She is given the opening notes of an a cappella rendition of Edwin McCain’s 1998 energy ballad “I’ll Be,” which you would possibly bear in mind from a key scene within the season one finale of “Dawson’s Creek” that very same yr. Or take 4 years later — as Lopez and Affleck had been breaking off their then engagement — and Hilary Duff and Chad Michael Murray had been slow-dancing to the music in “A Cinderella Story”: an aughts fairytale by which Coolidge performs depraved stepmother Fiona.
Coolidge can be a pleasure to observe off the again of her Golden Globe-winning flip as Tanya within the second season of Mike White’s satirical anthology collection “The White Lotus”: machine gun in a single hand (having had ample follow within the HBO hit), immediately memorable quips (“I’m a mom I can fear about a variety of issues on the similar time!”) and knowledge on longterm relationships and spicy intercourse lives, delivered with out flinching. She’s given the identical grace as Lopez. These girls discover methods to show dated rom-com beats into one thing slightly sharper and wittier, even when it’s by no means fairly sufficient to flee the movie’s ocean of clichés.
The lads, in the meantime, flit between “Jackass”-level stunts and determined makes an attempt at some type of emotional literacy, which by the tip of the movie actually makes you surprise if heterosexuality was the scoundrel on the horizon all alongside. It’s calcified by an ageless Lenny Kravitz as bigwig music producer and Darcy’s ex-boyfriend Sean, who at one level mutters “I’m not a monster, I’m an entrepreneur” however its delivered slightly too matter-of-factly to recommend any type of intentional comedy. It’s laborious, in fact, when it’s important to measure up reverse scene-stealing personalities like Lopez and Coolidge, in addition to “The Good Place” standout D’Arcy Carden, and even “Bacurau” firecracker Sônia Braga (although she’s underused).
“Shotgun Marriage ceremony” falls flat as any type of explosive or endearing {couples} comedy, however shines in moments due to the ladies anchoring its pirate antics. Perhaps the script ought to have stayed in 2003, however what a pleasure to see these timeless main girls jetting off into the sundown.
Grade; C+
“Shotgun Marriage ceremony” will likely be accessible to stream on Prime Video beginning Friday, January 27.
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