Isn't It Romantic is a film directed by Todd Strauss-Schulson. After an accident on a train station, young Natalie (Rebel Wilson) wakes up to find herself trapped within a romantic-comedy. Co-starring Liam Hemsworth and Adam Devine with a screenplay from Dana Fox, Erin Cardillo, and Katie Silberman. Isn't It Romantic is rated PG-13.

Isn't It Romantic's first act is mostly forgettable, but there is a brief montage within the first half hour of the film where young architect, Natalie, lists off every reason she dislikes romantic comedies. Natalie pulls examples from everything from “How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days” to “When Harry Met Sally.” This montage essentially tells the viewer each and every trope the movie is going to play off of throughout the film, and the few things it's going change.

The big problem with the above scene is that it paints each character in this movie as the stereotype that is often found in the genre. Where I noticed this the most was with Adam Devine's character. From the start of the film Adam Devine was the typical “guy she's supposed to be with.” In his first scenes, he even has a brief conversation with Natalie about “not seeing what was right in front of her,” making it quite obvious that what she's not seeing is actually him. While portraying this character in this particular matter seemed intentional in the beginning of the film, the film never does anything to subvert this cliche. From the first scene Adam Devine appears, we know his entire character arc.

This parody of rom-com cliches also seemed to include the film riffing off of the genre's use of set designs. Everything from a dimly lit New York street, to a party at a beach house, and a backcountry chapel appear. However, all of these set designs looked as if they had been half-heartedly thrown together. The New York street scene involved really heavy use of a green screen (and an uncomfortable bird's eye view shot) while the two scenes at the beach house and the church simply felt cramped and off putting. All of these scenes made watching the film uncomfortable and made me wonder why certain aspects of them hadn't been fixed before the movie was released.

While, overall, my viewing of the film was not particularly enjoyable, there were a few aspects I did find quite entertaining, such as Liam Hemsworth essentially over-acting as himself. The casting of the Australian actor to play the dreamy, and sometimes campy love interest was an excellent choice while also extremely funny. The humor in the film was more often than not quite bland, but I did find myself surprised by a few jokes that felt particularly witty and clever, such as one involving old women and crabs. Rebel Wilson herself also gave a pretty charming performance. Ultimately though, none of these aspects were enough to redeem a film as poorly made as this one.

Final Verdict: ⭐⭐
Reel Recommendation: Not worth your time.

Isn't It Romantic opens in theaters on Feb. 13