Isn’t It Romantic was released in 2019 and instead of being a straight-up romantic comedy where characters meet cute, fall in crazy love, and win every single obstacle, it’s about a woman who wakes up in the middle of her own film from this genre.
Even though the movie wants to be an intelligent take on this popular movie genre, the truth is that sometimes, it feels like yet another entry in a crowded part of pop culture. Here are five reasons that Isn’t It Romantic subverts the genre and five that it’s just another rom-com.
Subverts The Genre: It Pokes Fun At Perfect, Fancy Apartments
When Natalie (Rebel Wilson) wakes up in an actual rom-com and walks into her apartment, she’s shocked to find it completely different… and so much nicer. This is one way that the movie subverts the genre: by poking fun at perfect, fancy apartments that are featured in these flicks.
Natalie’s place is now perfectly color-coordinated. And like every place in these types of films, it seems totally unattainable and not affordable, even for someone making a ton of money.
Another Rom-Com: Natalie Falls For Her Friend
There are tons of romantic comedies that feature best friends falling for each other. One solid one is Some Kind Of Wonderful written by the great John Hughes. Unfortunately, Isn’t It Romantic is just another rom-com as Natalie falls for her friend, Josh (Adam DeVine), who she also works with. And this makes the movie seem much duller than it could be.
Since it’s nothing new for two characters to realize that they should be more than friends or their love has been there all along (or another corny way to explain it), this movie isn’t doing much to elevate rom-coms at all.
Subverts The Genre: It Points Out Logical Inconsistencies
When Natalie keeps meeting Blake (Liam Hemsworth), she makes it clear that something doesn’t add up: the two don’t discuss details and there is no way for her to actually get in touch with him. She points out the logical inconsistencies that are often present in rom-coms as she needs his actual phone number to call or text him.
This is one way that the movie subverts the genre and does so in a clever and funny way. Later, when the pieces of paper that have random numbers on them magically come together so she can phone him, it’s a really smart scene.
Another Rom-Com: Isabella Is Yet Another Beautiful Love Interest
Isabella (Priyanka Chopra) is a model and yoga ambassador who appears on the billboard outside of Natalie’s office and who also starts dating Josh. While the movie had the opportunity to do something interesting with this character, that’s not what happens.
Instead, she’s yet another beautiful love interest in this type of movie, and it ends up being pretty boring. She’s not self-aware at all, and if the movie really wanted to do something different, Isabella would admit that she’s a cliche, or be smarter than she seems, or something along those lines.
Subverts The Genre: Natalie And Blake Don’t Sleep Together
Isn’t It Romantic does something really smart with Natalie and Blake’s emerging love story: instead of showing them sleeping together or at least showing them in bed, the scene keeps cutting to the following morning.
Natalie is annoyed as she’s living in her own romantic comedy so that means that she can’t actually sleep with him. She keeps trying and trying and yet the same thing keeps happening. This is a really great moment. While some rom-coms do show characters in bed and then cut to them waking up the next day, many of them do show a lot more, so it’s a smart commentary on these types of scenes.
Another Rom-Com: Natalie Hates The Genre
The fact that Natalie hates the genre of romantic comedies doesn’t really make her a unique character. It actually makes her pretty cliche.
There are many stubborn and cynical characters in this film genre who want nothing to do with romance and who aren’t the typical damsel in distress. And that kind of love interest has become a cliche as well. Think Natalie Portman’s character Sam in Garden State who brought on a whole slew of “Manic Pixie Dream Girls.”
Subverts The Genre: Not Every Cliche Is Present
There are many cliches in the romantic comedy genre… so many that some films almost seem like a “paint by numbers” situation. Sometimes there’s a clumsy character who spills coffee on their love interest. Other times, a character runs through the airport, desperate to proclaim their mad love for their soulmate before they get on the plane.
Isn’t It Romantic subverts the genre because not every cliche is present. While it does make fun of these flicks, it’s refreshing that it doesn’t feature every single cliche.
Another Rom-Com: Natalie Should Have Changed The Way A Rom-Com Is Structured
In order for Isn’t It Romantic to truly analyze the way that romantic comedies are made, it would have been awesome to see Natalie change the way that this type of movie is structured. She could decide not to date the handsome, charming Blake, she could work on her career instead of pining over Josh, and she could do something that makes her happy.
Instead, Natalie seems to simply go along with whatever happens to her, and going through the motions doesn’t make for a super intelligent movie.
Subverts The Genre: The Makeover Montage Is Funny
When Natalie is hanging out with her neighbor Donny (Brandon Scott Jones), she realizes that they’re about go into a makeover montage, one of the biggest parts of a rom-com.
These are always fairly enjoyable, especially since they’re always set to a great song. It’s funny that Natalie knows exactly what is about to happen. Sure, this isn’t one of the best montages ever, and it’s nothing compared to the opening of Clueless, but it’s still humorous.
Another Rom-Com: There’s A Happy Ending
Isn’t It Romantic is ultimately another rom-com as there is a happy ending and it’s the kind that moviegoers have definitely come to expect.
Yes, Natalie and Josh end up together, and even if viewers want that to happen because it’s hard not to ship two characters who clearly like each other, it’s hard to love this kind of conclusion when a movie promises to offer up so much more. There’s still room for a movie to flip the rom-com on its head, but this might not be it.
