A head injury neatly separates Isn’t It Romantic , the contemporary woke romantic comedy and the parody. The Netflix film begins by showcasing Natalie (Rebel Wilson) and her “real and relatable” world and then slips into a satire which aims to contradict two worlds. In a “normal” New York millennial bubble, Natalie’s problems are driven by her upbringing, insecurities and embitterment, while the critique of the romcom universe involves a takedown of various stereotypes: pop culture, queer, narrative and aesthetic. But the problem with the film is that it appears so disconnected from both the worlds that the humour feels dated, despite being bankrolled by a streaming platform that aspires to be ahead of the curve. For a parody (which is a form of criticism in itself) to go beyond mediocrity, it ought to be more observational, especially if you are attempting a meta-narrative.
- Director: Todd Strauss-Schulson
- Cast: Rebel Wilson, Liam Hemsworth, Adam DeVine, Brandon Scott Jones and Priyanka Chopra
- Story line: Natalie hits her head on a pole and enters a parallel romcom universe
Paradoxically, the film is at its best while being the Saturday night fluff it sets out to mock. There are heartwarming moments of epiphany and self-actualisation – common tropes of romcoms – and a moving emotional speech delivered by the protagonist’s GBF (Gay Best Friend). It helps that Wilson has a natural flair for comedy and her sarcastic and acerbic one-liners are a hoot. But contradictory to her under-the-breath comments, the film insists on pointing fingers and laughing at romcom formulae, rather than keeping up with Wilson’s casual bitterness.
In sync with all things flashy, we have Priyanka Chopra’s yoga ambassador-cum-swim suit model called Isabella. She fills the shoes of the clichéd competition to the plain Jane protagonist of a romcom, which back in the day would be a blonde girl but now is an exotic beauty-cum-diversity quota winner. The film could have been truly woke and mocked her casting than her character. That’s the downside of Isn’t It Romantic: it misses out on all cues to be relevant.
If we know anything about Hollywood, it is how self-indulgent it is, even when it comes to mocking itself. Isn’t It Romantic isn’t the first feature-length parody of romcoms. The Amy Poehler and Paul Rudd-starrer, They Came Together (2014) was far more successful with a similar agenda, without seeming like the film had a plan to dismantle the genre. The lines between mockery and comedy were fluid because of the film’s keen observations, wit and absurdity. In the case of this Netflix offering, there is a glaring lack of relevance because it exaggerates romcom clichés to such an extent that it makes you often wonder: do we actually make such films any more? But after you’re done seeing the film, you look around a little and find that Hollywood hasn’t moved on from GBFs, tempting you to reevaluate Isn’t It Romantic. But is it worth the effort?
Isn’t It Romantic is currently streaming on Netflix
