In the spirit of Valentine’s Day, “Marry Me,” starring Jennifer Lopez, Owen Wilson, and Maluma, is an enjoyable movie to watch at this romance-filled time of year. The use of video montages, Instagram Lives, and multiple brand appearances from Vitamix, Coach, Guess, and Uber makes this movie relatable to millennials and gen z. The music was amazing and woven beautifully into the storyline. You will find yourself humming “marry me, marry me, say yes!” to yourself after watching this film.

This movie is musician Maluma’s feature-film debut and he sure does live up to his “Pretty Boy, Dirty Boy” motto through his character Bastian. “Marry Me” starts with superstars Kat Valdez (Jennifer Lopez) and Bastian (Maluma) preparing to get married during one of the shows on their concert tour. The pressure is high because there is a streaming audience of 20 million people anticipating the wedding. Immediately after finding out that her fiance, Bastian, cheated on her with her assistant through a leaked video, Kat spontaneously decides to marry an audience member to fix her image. The audience member happens to be Charlie Gilbert (Owen Wilson), a divorced single father and math teacher, who was dragged to the concert at the last minute. Charlie says “OK” when asked if he takes Kat as his wife in front of 20 million people. What follows is a story of spontaneity and the realities of social media, fame, and what love is really about. 

I had been excitedly waiting for this movie to come out, as a fan of Maluma since his “Pretty Boy, Dirty Boy” album came out in 2015. Over the past year, Maluma’s popularity has been rising and has been showcased in high fashion collaborations with Versace and even providing a voice over in Disney’s “Encanto.” Seeing him star in “Marry Me” was the main reason why I wanted to watch this movie.

When I watched the trailer, I thought I knew everything I needed to know about the movie: the cheating, marrying a random dude from the audience, that dude being a math teacher, and Kat having to choose between Bastian and Charlie were all givens from the start. However, the movie does a great job in showing the aftermath of the impulsive “I Do’s” and takes the viewer through a wild ride of fame, press releases, and TV humiliations from Jimmy Fallon. 

Personally, I was taken aback at how wholesome this movie was. It wasn’t a cheesy, Hallmark kind of wholesome, but the themes of family, home, and female power made it all the more charming. The movie is rated PG-13, probably due to Bastian passionately kissing Kat’s assistant and being flirtatious and touchy with many of the women he comes across. Bastian’s character was hard to not like though; Maluma played the role excellently. He was so good at being a charming, handsome jerk. Wilson’s character, Charlie, was phenomenal at being a loving, protective father and a caring math teacher. One of my favorite moments was when the paparazzi thought they found Kat buying a pregnancy test, but Charlie says that it was actually stool softener for his dog, Tank.

If you’re looking for a feel-good, modern internet love story this season, check out “Marry Me,” in theaters and on Peacock now.

Featured Image Courtesy of Wallpapersden