Taglines: None of the feels.
New York City architect Natalie works hard to get noticed at her job but is more likely to be asked to deliver coffee and bagels than to design the city’s next skyscraper. And if things weren’t bad enough, Natalie, a lifelong cynic when it comes to love, has an encounter with a mugger that renders her unconscious, waking to discover that her life has suddenly become her worst nightmare—a romantic comedy—and she is the leading lady.
Isn’t It Romantic is a 2019 American satirical fantasy romantic comedy film directed by Todd Strauss-Schulson and written by Erin Cardillo, Dana Fox, and Katie Silberman. The film stars Rebel Wilson as a woman who finds herself in a world where everything around her plays out like a clichéd PG-13 romantic comedy. Liam Hemsworth, Adam DeVine, and Priyanka Chopra appear in supporting roles.
The film was theatrically released in the United States on February 13, 2019, by Warner Bros. Pictures, and in international territories by Netflix on February 28, 2019. It grossed over $48 million on a $31 million budget and received generally positive reviews from critics, who praised Wilson’s performance.
About the Story
The film opens sometime in the early 90’s in Australia. Young Natalie (Alex Kis) is watching Pretty Woman and enjoying it until her mother (Jennifer Saunders) comes in and tells her she shouldn’t watch romantic comedies because women like her and Natalie don’t get happy endings the way beautiful women like Julia Roberts do. This breaks Natalie’s spirit and causes her to enjoy the movie less.
25 years later, Natalie (now played by Rebel Wilson) works as an architect in New York City. She is kind of a pushover amongst her coworkers and is frequently viewed as (in her eyes, anyway) the ‘coffee bitch’. Her only friends are Josh (Adam Devine) and Whitney (Betty Gilpin), the latter being Natalie’s assistant. They receive a new client, handsome billionaire Blake (Liam Hemsworth), and as Natalie goes to join them for a presentation, Blake mistakes Natalie’s coffee for his, and her boss makes her go grab Blake a fresh one.
Later, Natalie catches Whitney watching The Wedding Singer and crying. Natalie chastises her and goes on a cynical three-hour rant about why romantic comedies are bullshit and why they set bad examples with their cliches. Josh later tries to invite Natalie to hang out, but she rudely brushes him off, and Whitney tells Natalie that more people would notice her if she were more open.
Natalie takes the subway home when she sees a guy on the other train trying to get her attention. They meet up, and he appears friendly, but he then attacks Natalie and tries to take her bag. They fight for it, and she ends up disabling him, but as she runs away, Natalie runs face-first into a pole, knocking herself unconscious.
Natalie wakes up in a hospital and is greeted by a good-looking doctor who starts flirting with her. She is more creeped out than charmed, and she leaves after being discharged. When she walks out, she notices that New York doesn’t smell like crap and instead smells like lavender. Natalie walks into the street and gets hit by Blake’s limo.
He is now more charming to her and he takes her home in a matter of seconds and leaves her his number by writing them on flower petals and then expecting Natalie to remember despite him giving them to her in a random order.. She goes into her apartment and finds that it is larger, nicer, and that she owns every shoe ever made, and that they fit her perfectly. Her dog is also well-groomed and obedient now. Also, her grumpy neighbor Donny (Brandon Scott Jones) is now a wildly flamboyant stereotypical gay best friend.
Isn’t It Romantic (2019)
Directed by: Todd Strauss-Schulson
Starring: Tom Ellis, Priyanka Chopra, Rebel Wilson, Adam DeVine, Betty Gilpin, Brandon Scott Jones, Doris McCarthy, Eugenia Kuzmina, Faith Logan, Jacqueline Honulik, Jennifer Saunders, Liam Hemsworth, Sawandi Wilson, Shyrley Rodriguez
Screenplay by: Todd Strauss-Schulson
Production Design by: Sharon Seymour
Cinematography by: Simon Duggan
Film Editing by: Andrew Marcus
Costume Design by: Leah Katznelson
Set Decoration by: Alyssa Winter
Art Direction by: Doug Huszti
Music by: John Debney
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for language, some sexual material, and a brief drug reference.
Distributed by: Warner Bros. Pictures, Netflix
Release Date: February 13, 2019
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