Such a blandly produced and acted film in which no single performance stands out and not a scene is very memorable, Just Married is a genial comedy about two young people (Ashton Kutcher and Brittany Murphy) who struggle to enjoy themselves on their honeymoon abroad. The film doesn't include anything that makes it too terrible of a film, but it is, in the end, as eminently forgettable as its title. The film is directed by Shawn Levy (Big Fat Liar).
Ah January, the month in which studios do one of two things. They either put their Oscar contenders out in wide release or they get rid of their trash early in the year. Anyone can easily figure out in which category Fox put Just Married. Being the first wide release of the new year is usually not an enviable position as they usually bomb at the box office as they are overshadowed by the higher quality award films. Impostor, the first wide release of last year, tanked at the box office with a grand total of around 6.5 million at the box office. Just Married gets the "honor" of being the first film to attempt to get noticed while the award worthy films get all the attention.
From its title on down, Just Married screams assembly line romantic comedy/road movie. The film employs all matter of physical and verbal comedy (More of the former) in an attempt to get a laugh. The film displays no hint of any ambition whatsoever to try and invent some new joke or some way to elicit a laugh from the audience and instead relies on tired old jokes that audiences have seen harkening way back to such films as Overboard, and just about any early Eddie Murphy comedy. The lack of originality in the comedic material hampers an otherwise sufficiently pleasing film.
The two leads display a fairly good degree of chemistry with one another that makes some of the more blasé moments more exciting because of how they interact with each other. The charisma of the two stars keeps the film afloat even during the most pathetic of the attempts at humor. They are so affable and altogether likable that you wish that there were a better screenplay supporting them. Director Levy also tries valiantly to try and make something out of a very below average script and does so with aplomb. He has impressed me with both this film and Big Fat Liar in the style he shows so ably on the screen.
Overall, Just Married is a smarter script away from comedic perfection. As it is, it's worth a trip just for the likable stars.
Rating: 75
joe@currentlyplaying.com
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