In director Shawn Levy’s latest offbeat comedy, a newlywed couple must resolve their differences in one amazing, bumpy ride.
In the film “Just Married,” Brittany Murphy (“8 Mile”) and Ashton Kutcher (“That ’70s Show”) team up as an unlikely couple. Sarah, a wealthy daddy’s girl who studied art history, meets Tom, a traffic reporter at a local radio station, on a beach after being smashed in the head by a football. Kutcher, in the typical style of a high school sweetheart, rushes to Sarah’s aid.
From there, the chemistry begins, and the two are bound on a whirlwind course to romance.
The comedic style of the film combines the bittersweet comedy found in “Meet the Parents,” the crazy antics of “Dumb and Dumber” and the painful faux pas style of “National Lampoon’s European Vacation.”
The screenplay isn’t profound or original. Keeping in step with so many other romantic comedies, the focus of the movie is love and sex. Levy and screenwriter Sam Harper keep the viewer’s attention by giving several of Sarah’s family members nicknames that are also used to refer to genitalia.
In a simple- and cheap-humored way, the film opens with two adults behaving like angry school children in an airport terminal. The couple pushes and shoves as they race to their car, and the viewer immediately understands this is an immature film.
Levy creates a world of tension and compromise, and he shows the sacrifices necessary to make a marriage work.
The best parts of the film are the couple’s mishaps in Europe. Sarah, a sophisticated art connoisseur, has traveled through Europe before. Speaking several different languages and understanding some of the customs, she is the poised and graceful half of the relationship.
Tom is her bumbling, stereotypically rude American sidekick. Whenever he’s being snubbed by the French, or has miscommunicated with a concierge, he becomes loud and belligerent. In a very annoying way, Sarah has to baby-sit Tom to keep him from ruining the honeymoon further.
As tempers flare, the couple realizes the problem that arises from coming from vastly different worlds. Tom, a regular blue-collar boy, is constantly faced with his new in-laws’ snobbery and the conflicts with his bride’s fine tastes. Feeling insecure at times, Tom has to overcome the family’s preconceived notions while resolving developing conflicts with his new bride.
The true hilarity, however, comes when the newly-weds are never able to spend any time together to consummate their marriage. In “Dumb and Dumber” fashion, the two lovebirds passionately try to find time alone.
Whether they are in a five star hotel or gallivanting across Europe in a comical European-style “compact” car, the two inevitably encounter trials from France to Italy. The viewer is faced with cultural stereotypes on all levels, leaving one laughing even when it’s undeserved.
Whenever the viewer breathes a sigh of relief and thinks there is no way the couple could encounter further misfortunes, the plot takes a turn. It’s a rollercoaster ride, starting at a great height and swirling the viewer through emotional highs and lows. As emotions are pulled between pain and irony, there are some elements of simple humor present. In the end, as the characters begin to grow and mature, the viewer is left feeling justified that some element of substance remains within the movie’s shifting frames.
In short, it’s a cute movie aimed at a younger audience. It’s perfect for those days when studies are overwhelming, and one merely wants to be mindlessly entertained.
