Isn’t It Romantic – A rhetorical question, but only for the first act.


Rebel Wilson has done some good films ‘how to be single’ and ‘pitch perfect’ and some terrible films, the rest of her filmography… actually, she’s ok. Not that bad. The self deprecating humour her ‘character’ in everything she plays in can often come across as actually a little depressing, although thankfully there’s little of that here, as she now plays an aware, sarcastic lead. And does it pretty well.
The movie bases its premise on the notion that everyone secretly or not so secretly loves a Romcom, and so, who wouldn’t love a Romcom taking the mick out of romcom tropes and fantasies? Sounds like a good on paper, but does ‘isn’t it romantic’ actually follow through with that?
But any excuse to look at Liam Hemsworth and accidently drool, if I get to see him like that, I’ll watch any film that he does. Even though I generally prefer his older brother Chris, and if Chris didn’t give Liam any stick for this film… I’d rather just prefer to think he did. I know a lot of guys who roll their eyes at the absurdity of these Hollywood beefcakes.
The Netflix chick flick is a little bit predictable, ok, a lot predictable and a lot cliché! But that’s what makes this film rather charming! Though, it also makes you throw up in your mouth a little bit, but I could not avert my eyes. It’s pretty, but often falls back into the tropey and stupidness that it claims to be above. It’s all well and good proposing that life isn’t about beautiful people falling in love, but don’t try and disprove that by getting Hollywood romcom veteran Adam Devine (not even gonna list his movie history, google it) as the quirky bestie that may or may not be the right choice regardless of the self discovery you’ve made.
Again, going back to Liam Hemsworth; seeing him topless helped, a lot! Though it wasn’t just him that kept me involved: I genuinely laughed. Though sometimes it was with a cringe or a grunt of disgust.
Can it be a guilty pleasure? It breaks the rules by deciphering all romantic comedy traits. Yet, I’ll probably never watch it again, because like all romantic comedies it makes us single ladies depressed and want to eat ice cream. Ben, Jerry and a shameful, Hemsworth related foray into google images will be the only loves in my life.
Now I’m making you cringe. This feels good in case you never watch this film, at least I know you’ll cringe at something, and I’m just doing my job folks.
Though watch it to see if you do this – I found myself saying “omg, I can’t deal” to myself several times, and shielding my eyes, films are supposed to make you react, even if it’s in a not so great fashion.
Also, I’m really starting to notice a trend with all the self-love shows/films at the minute. Which is applicable because everyone should love themselves. But we don’t need to see this much mush, secret love for mush, because isn’t it romantic once again displays that love plots in a movie are like a seasoning: they make the movie taste good, but wont fill your need for engagement in a movie, at least not as much as Liam Hemsworth does. And trust me, that isn’t romantic.