IT’S HALLMARK, JUST BETTER
I had a lot of fun watching Marry Me. It kept popping up in my Amazon feed, and I finally told myself, “Okay, it can’t be that bad….” And, to my great satisfaction, it wasn’t! Marry Me stars Jennifer Lopez and Owen Wilson in a romantic comedy that has a lot of charm to it. Do I recommend it? Yup. Was it a perfect movie? Well, no. To be honest, I thought the musical numbers by J-Lo were a bit too long, and over the top, and her voice just didn’t sound that great. But this movie still gets a gold star from me.
GRADE: A
THE SCRIPT
Romantic comedies can be a rather interesting beast to write, because the antagonist is usually the main character. In the movie As Good As It Gets, Jack Nicholson plays an egotistical writer, who suffers from OCD, and is a flat-out comical asshole throughout the entire movie. He brings hell to all those who cross him. If you’re asking yourself, “What type of maniac would fall in love with a jackass?” Good question. All I can say is “Well, this is Hollywood.” In this story, Jack Nicholson is the clear-cut antagonist. Usually, movies are told from the protagonist’s point of view. This romantic comedy formula is usually applied to Hallmark movies, where the main character is an antagonist, who is usually obsessed with their job, and if they just found the Christmas spirit, they could find love.
In the movie Marry Me there is no clear-cut antagonist.
There could be an argument that J-Lo’s character Kat, is the antagonist, but she’s just as much a victim of love as Owen Wilson’s character, Charlie.
But you need an antagonist to propel the story, right? Yes, absolutely. And in this case, the antagonists (yes, with an S) are actually the agendas of both characters, and their opposite careers; it’s not a character. How’s that for a bad guy? The screenplay is an absolute gem and an example of great writing.
Wanna write a story like this? Well, you have to know your personality types, in and out.
GRADE: A+++++
KAT: AVERAGE TYPE THREE “ACHIEVER”
Kat is a famous rockstar who is extremely image-oriented. She’s so image-oriented, that she has a full-time camera following her around 24/7, to share her life with her fans. She makes important life decisions based on her fans, rather than listening to her gut. And as you can predict, her work-life balance is out of whack.
Type Threes tend to live their the future, rather than paying attention to the present. They can routinely worry about promotions, buying future homes, future cars, instead of being concerned with their family.
The unhealthy portion of Kat’s life, which is her job, and her obsession with her image, are both the co-antagonist of the movie.
CHARLIE: TYPE NINE “PEACEKEEPER”
Charlie is a math teacher who is happy with the status quo. He’s happy being single, he’s happy being a Math teacher, and he is satisfied. Sure, he wants to look like the hip-father to her daughter, but he’s okay with it. Charlie is your typical nine. He keeps the peace. By the way, Owen Wilson tends to play “peacekeepers” quite often. Is he a Type Nine in real life? Who knows? But all of the characters he plays tend to be down to earth.
Charlie’s love for maintaining the status quo, is also a co-antagonist in the movie. Like Kat, Charlie also worries about the future too much. But he’s not worried about being successful, or what people think about him, he just doesn’t want to rock the boat.
LAST WORDS
Was it just me, but did J-Lo change her singing voice? She has this wannabe Britney Spears voice that has way too much autotune added.
Steve Young
