Director: Shawn Levy
Writer: Sam Harper (Screenplay)
Starring: Ashton Kutcher, Brittany Murphy, Christian Kane, David Moscow, Money Mazur, David Rasche, Thad Luckinbill
Plot: A young newlywed couple honeymoon in Europe, where obstacles challenge their ability to sustain the marriage.
Tagline – It was the perfect honeymoon… Until it began.
Runtime: 1 Hour 35 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Verdict: Just Bad
Story: Just Married starts as Tom (Kutcher) and Sarah (Murphy) return from their honeymoon, which has been a complete disaster, which sees the two looking back at what made them fall in love to start with. From the first meeting, to the wedding day, where everything is perfect.
The honeymoon on the other hand is very different, as the two start to reveal other secrets about their lives and the love they once had starts to shatter.
Thoughts on Just Married
Characters – Tom has always had to make his own way in the world, working in radio for his career, he has always been through the women in his life until he met Sarah. He won’t let her family’s money get involved in their relationship and isn’t happy to enter into the cultural experience of the honeymoon. Sarah comes from a wealthy family, she has always been pressured into being with the family pick, which isn’t Tom and gets her head turned after the honeymoon doesn’t go to plan. Peter is the ex-flame of Sarah’s the man the family wanted her to marry, being the success the family always wanted for her.
Performances – Ashton Kutcher and Brittany Murphy are both entertaining enough in their roles, they have some silly comedy moments that don’t work, they do work on screen together well.
Story – The story here follows the events of the honeymoon from hell for a newlywed couple who are left to wondering why they fell in love in the first place. This is a film that uses the comedy to try and wrap a story about different incidents, while showing the painful ignorance of the American characters, while also showing how the stereotypes are painful to play out. We even waste the backdrop of Europe for the most part, which just doesn’t get used enough, the story is more about the arguments rather than showing how things went truly wrong.
Comedy/Romance – The comedy in the film doesn’t always work, it is mostly slapstick that just doesn’t work and feels unrealistic, while the romance is trying to show how important love can be, even if people can come from different backgrounds.
Settings – The film wastes the settings here, with the European backdrop never getting used to show where we are in the film.
Scene of the Movie – Couldn’t find one.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – The ignorance of the Americans in Europe.
Final Thoughts – This is a poor comedy that misses so often and hopes the romance works to save it, with the only highlight being the chemistry between Kutcher and Murphy.
Overall: Lazy Comedy.
