Marry Me Parent Guide

Forget Royal weddings. The nuptials of celebrity musicians Kat Valdez and Bastian will be the event of the year. The couple are to be wed in diamonds and bling in front of twenty million fans around the globe – that is, until Kat discovers moments before the big event that her fiancé has been cheating on her.

Stunned and heartbroken, Kat makes a sudden decision to “change the narrative”. Clad in her glamorous gown and glittering jewels, she steps into the harsh spotlight…and asks a random man in the audience to marry her.

No one is more surprised than Charlie Gilbert. A self-effacing math teacher, Charlie leads a normal life in which his biggest concerns are coaching math club and helping his daughter fit in at middle school. Now he’s found himself married to a superstar and must figure out if this unexpected relationship belongs in his life…

I must admit that the first thing I thought after watching the trailer was, “The wedding isn’t legal! They don’t have a license.” Thankfully, the script fills this potential plot hole. The parties are aware that the marriage has no legal standing. Kat seems to see it as an adventure and her staff view it as a PR opportunity to be maximized with photo ops, press conferences, and interviews. They all assume that after three months or so, Kat and Charlie can gracefully go their separate ways. The only wrinkle here is that Kat decides that she likes straight-up, decent guys.

Marry Me is a sweet rom-com which kept me smiling and often laughing, despite its obviously absurd premise. Both Kat and Charlie are lonely and vulnerable and that gives the story some emotional resonance. Jennifer Lopez’s portrayal of Kat’s isolation, at her pain in the face of public ridicule, is particularly affecting, moreso because the actress says it’s based on her personal experience. The only part of the movie that really irked me was a conversation in which Charlie criticizes Kat’s reliance on professional and domestic staff. I was outraged: frankly, if a woman can afford to hire people to help carry her load, more power to her. You have a cleaning lady? A mother’s helper? Landscaping staff? Pay them decently and treat them with respect and carry on with the million other things you’re doing. It’s an offensively judgmental and totally tone-deaf moment in an otherwise sensitive film.

If you’re trying to decide whether to share the movie with teens, you can be assured that negative content is low, particularly compared to other rom-coms. Sexual content is limited to kissing and implied sex. There’s some minor social drinking and swearing and that’s about it. Religious viewers will certainly be offended by a dance scene in which Kat gyrates provocatively while dressed in a flesh-toned body suit decorated with a glittering cross that stretches down to her crotch. This sexualization of religious imagery is not original (think Madonna) or appropriate and this movie would be better without it.

The biggest problem in the story is its glamorization of impulsive, reckless decision-making: spontaneously picking a spouse on a whim might not be the example you want your teen to absorb. On the flip side, Marry Me is a reminder of the power of kindness, human decency, and hope. It reminds us of how badly we need connection, respect, and a loving person to listen and to care. I’m not sure how Kat and Charlie will overcome the huge differences between their lifestyles, but this movie certainly makes me hope that “love conquers all”.