Shashwat Khatri
Directed by Kat Coiro, ‘Marry Me’ is a romantic comedy film that follows Kat Valdez (Jennifer Lopez), a three-time divorcee and pop superstar who’s about to get married to her fiancé and fellow singer Bastian (Maluma) at a concert in front of 20 million fans. But when Kat discovers Bastian has been cheating on her with her assistant, she decides in the spur of the moment to instead marry a stranger, Charlie Gilbert (Owen Wilson) – a divorced math teacher just standing in the crowd with a “Marry Me” sign – right there and then.
Against all odds, an unlikely romance ensues. But bridging the wide gulf that separates their worlds may prove too much for their budding love, destroying what could be their only chance at finding true love. Blending fact and fiction into a high-concept clash-of-worlds drama, the story of the 2022 film is eerily similar to the events of J.Lo’s own life, leaving many wondering if it isn’t all based on something true.
Marry Me Loosely Follows Jennifer Lopez’s Life, But Not by Design
Pop icon Kat Valdez’s string of failed marriages and affairs may mirror Jennifer Lopez’s own struggles in finding love. However, ‘Marry Me’ doesn’t explicitly take after J.Lo’s life. The movie is, in fact, based on Bobby Crosby’s 2007 webcomic of the same name, about a 24-year-old pop star in Oklahoma who impulsively decides to marry a random guy from the crowd. To be specific, the screenwriters John Rogers, Tami Sagher, and Harper Dill did take some creative liberty by changing the setting to New York, turning Charlie into a math teacher (his webcomic counterpart, Guy, is a high school guidance counselor), and leaving out the couple’s getaway to Africa. Nevertheless, it preserves enough of the comic’s storyline to leave no doubt that ‘Marry Me’ is based not on J.Lo’s life, but on Crosby’s original webtoon.
Nevertheless, the similarities between Kat and J.Lo aren’t so easily explained away. Kat is a trailblazer in her own right — a Latina singer-songwriter, dancer, judge, and businesswoman. Kat was married three times before her paths crossed with Charlie. In reality, so was J.Lo, before rekindling her romance with ex-flame Ben Affleck. The real and reel counterparts have faced setbacks time and again in their quest for love, often quite publicly. While Kat catches her fiancé on social media kissing her assistant and turns to a stranger, J.Lo and Alex also called off their two-year engagement on social media. A while later, she began dating Ben Affleck again, which was followed by an engagement and two weddings (Las Vegas and Georgia) in 2022. Unfortunately, it didn’t work out either, and the two split up in 2025.
So close to being the literal manifestation of the fictitious comic book-inspired Kat, at least somewhat in the facts, it’s not surprising to see J.Lo finally deliver a performance so charming and believable it might as well be her own life she was acting out. She even sang a few bangers for the official movie soundtrack, including “On My Way”, “Love of My Life”, and the titular track “Marry Me”. Besides, what better way is there to depict the life of a lovelorn superstar than to cast a superstar who’s seemingly lived a similar life? In an interview with Vanity Fair, J.Lo opened up about her role as Kat, saying, “This movie was very personal for me.” And understandably so, even if Kat is perhaps a grander, made-for-the-silver-screen personality than J.Lo. “But she’s also just a regular person who gets lonely, and who needs love, and wants to feel like she has a home,” she concluded.
Marry Me Captures the Essence of Love in Modern Times
‘Marry Me’ isn’t just Kat’s and Charlie’s, or even J.Lo’s story. In its depiction of two people who are worlds apart, but brought together by love, it’s a tale as old as time. Speaking to Novastream, director Kat Coiro said, “To me, this is the story of two people falling in love, but also, independently, a story of a woman who is trying to find her voice. As she goes through this romance, she’s also crafting her career and navigating… finding a way to use what she’s going through emotionally to fuel her art.”
Comparisons with ‘Notting Hill’ are well warranted, especially since ‘Notting Hill’ was also the inspiration for the webcomic that ‘Marry Me’ is based on. Like Notting Hill’s Anna Scott (Julia Roberts), Kat’s decision to do something different brings her love in the form of the dorky but down-to-earth Charlie, who himself must get out of the stale comforts of his life and walk into the spotlight with her.
In one’s willingness to change for love, with Charlie opening up to social media and Kat embracing a quieter, self-fulfilled life, the movie is about as archetypal as it gets, even if the veneer is of a modern rom-com variety. In fact, the struggle to maintain a private love life in the world of constant media attention makes ‘Marry Me’ particularly relevant for our modern times. Without stooping to unnecessary complications and frustrating miscommunications that generally plague rom-com plots, ‘Marry Me’ maintains an entertaining pace while somehow still managing to deal with such bold and universal themes as the alienating effects of fame and the quest to find love that lasts.
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