Just Married

Can the latest teen rom-com, bring a charge of new life into the jaded mix? And do Ashton Kutcher and Brittany Murphy love each other as much as in real life? Find out here.

Joining the production line of romantic comedies currently being churned out onto the silver screens next to Two Weeks Notice, Hope Springs, A Guy Thing and Maid in Manhattan comes the teen rom-com, Just Married. But can the sell-in of two of Hollywood's rising stars (and now real life couple), Ashton Kutcher and Brittany Murphy, to play a pair of naive just married teens bring a charge of new life into this jaded mix?

Ah, I love romantic comedies. The last romantic comedy that I thoroughly enjoyed was Bridget Jones's Diary, which I saw around five times at the cinema. Breakfast At Tiffany's, When Harry Met Sally, Pretty in Pink, Sliding Doors and You've Got Mail ranks amongst the most viewed romantic films in my collection so I hope I'm stood in good stead in this review. Armed with a big tub of salted popcorn and diet coke in one arm and my boyfriend in the other, I was quite looking forward to Just Married as it was the only one of this genre I was willing to fork out West End prices to watch.

Just Married begins at the crux of the newlywed's marriage. Having returned from a disastrous honeymoon in Europe; radio traffic reporter, Tom (Kutcher), and Sarah (Murphy) who is a daughter from a wealthy family; are faced with the dilemma of waking up to mixed results from rushing into marriage. Not only that but Sarah's snobby family muscling in to say 'I told you so' and her old flame Peter (Christian Kane) following them through Europe to take advantage of the marriage failing. Their misadventures of honeymooning becomes a make or break crossroad sooner than they thought.

From their memorable performances in Dude, Where's My Car? and 8 Mile, Kutcher and Murphy on script appear to be the perfect partnering in a genre that, as I said, needed a much big kick up its backside. Kutcher is fantastic as the short-tempered, ill-planned yet loveable Tom. Murphy is also great in her role as the down-to-earth, fun loving daughter who can't really shake off her past as easily as she'd like. Their portrayals of the newlyweds maintain a distinct like-ability throughout the duration of the film and never slip into the annoying at any point.

What surprised me the most was the amount of slapstick involved in a series of scenes, from Tom getting electrocuted in the hotel, when they get snowed in their car to their slanging matches in their room and the death of Sarah's pooch. Doubled with some superb one liners and great timing from both leads, there are some seriously funny moments in the film that sets this one from other movies of its genre. This is the first film since High Fidelity and About a Boy that remotely speaks to the male audience, and we really applaud that!

It's easy to forget that the key to a great romantic comedy doesn't rely on the story so much because that's predictable, or the chemistry between two leads as that should be just a given in this genre (otherwise why were they casted anyway?) What's important to a great romantic comedy for me relies on striking a good balance between superb dialogue, excellent character dynamic and carefully scripted character resolution.

Just Married just comes in shy on all counts despite luring the audiences on a few occasions to will the couple on, regardless of their miscommunication. Nowadays, what separates a good romantic comedy from one that we would all want to watch again is its ability to treat us like intelligent audiences. And quite frankly, I think a lot of recent romantic comedies come in very short. Maid in Manhattan was bordering on mildly average and well, I thought Two Weeks Notice lacked a lot of charisma that made past films starring Bullock and Grant what they were.

With so many rom-coms scheduled into 2003, it's difficult to find one that viewers are likely to watch over and over again. Just Married sits smugly in between.

Transistor Sister
Film Critic, Kikizo Movies