Although the comedy isn't always the most highbrow in the world, Just Married still has a lot of charm and hilarity to it and is buoyed by the fact that both its lead stars have a large amount of chemistry with one another. Though they swear they didn't start dating until months after filming on the movie was finished, their appearances on screen with one another run the gamut from hilarious to sweet. And in the world of romantic comedies, these two features assure audiences of an entertaining time while they sit in front of the screen.
What's interesting about this film is that it tries to cater to both male and female members of the audience. When the humor borders on the crass side, the intended audience is most likely the male side. But when the romance takes center stage, it's probable the filmmakers were aiming to entertain the women. But this movie is never too Road Trip or overly Love Story. For people interested in a funny take on romance, this film delivers in every single scene. It's rare that a film can inspire so many laugh-out-loud moments, but stars Ashton Kutcher and Brittany Murphy really do have the talent for comedy and their antics onscreen really do deserve a hilarious rating.
This movie seems to resemble the classic romantic comedies of the 1930's which involved a boatload of physical action humor (people tripping, running into stuff, etc.), complete with caustic wit and verbal barns. Of course, there are also jokes included tailor-made for a twenty-first century audience, like cars falling off into ravines and electrocutions involving large sexual toys. And speaking of cars, one of the biggest laughs in this film comes not from the cast of humans, but from the smallest yellow roller skate ever to traverse the tiny European roadways. After renting a car at the airport, Murphy and Kutcher show up on screen driving a car that is probably wider than it is long.
The scene involving the yellow roller skate is only one of many farcical sequences which balance nicely with the romantic element usually present. Though this film could much more easily be considered a comedy than a romance, there are still some sweet scenes between Murphy and Kutchner's characters. As a couple of just married, young twenty-somethings, their familiarity with one another makes it easy to believe their relationship and rather hard to believe that the smooching offset didn't begin until later. Suffice it to say though that their relationship is realistic and sweet and has just the right combination of romance and humor to make it interesting.
Probably one of the only shortcomings of this film is the lack of interaction with the supporting members of the cast. Each member of the cast was picked well for their role, and it seems a shame that an actress like Veronica Cartwright has only a few minutes of screen time. Though it's nice that the film gets off to a running start, some additional exposition might have been beneficial to character development. Though who knows if the movie could have been improved in that area, considering all of its value comes from the relationship between the two lead characters and the funny situations they have to sift through to arrive at happily ever after.
Elements such as music, cinematography, and art direction are all completed with the genre in mind. The music has a great degree of bubbly pop songs and love ballads in mind. And the locations in Europe add some nice static visuals in addition to the beautiful cast. Everyone is well dressed and the cinematic vistas of central Europe give the picture additional locations to look at rather than the standard New York City skyline. So many romantic comedies take place in one of three American cities (New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles), that seeing mountains and cathedrals gives this picture a visual boost.
With the rather horrid offerings from the romantic comedy world of filmmaking in the past year (Life or Something Like It, Punch-Drunk Love, The Sweetest Thing, need I list more....) the fact that Just Married is just so enjoyable is a vote in the genre's favor. While chemistry between lead stars is a must for a film like this to be successful, the fact that the film also has rather more than its share of hilarious moments makes it a well-made example of a light and enjoyable film. This movie is by no means a display of Shakespearean dramatics, but is rather something to enjoy while munching on popcorn.
Review by Kelsey Wyatt.
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