Natalie (Rebel Wilson), an Aussie architect working in Manhattan, hates rom-coms. Shes allergic to all the clichs of the genre, and ever since she was a child, her mom (Jennifer Saunders) has taught her that Hollywood fantasies with Julia Roberts, Sandra Bullock, etc. are not for girls like us. Working in New York does nothing to disabuse Natalie of the notion. Shes extra-invisible to her companys handsome client, Blake (Liam Hemsworth), who Natalie describes as CW hot. He rudely treats her as a lowly assistant and barks orders for coffee. Meanwhile, she is adored by nebbish co-worker Josh (Adam DeVine), but she doesnt notice. Work is her only passion.
Then, boom, everything changes. While chasing a mugger in the subway, Natalie smashes into a pole. Newly concussed, she wakes up in a New York with a glossy PG-13 filter on it. Cinematographer Simon Duggans camera shoots everything pastel-bright like a Martha Stewart catalogue, notably Natalies transformed apartment which is now magazine-spread ready. When Natalie runs into Blake again, hes super polite, sporting an Aussie accent (both leads are real-life Australians) and calling her beguiling like a lovestruck Romeo. (Somewhere along the line, The Hunger Games hunk has found a light-comic touch that truly is beguiling.) Yes, the switcheroo gimmick in the script by Erin Cardillo, Dana Fox and Katie Silberman bears more than a passing resemblance to last years Amy Schumer comedy I Feel Pretty. Remarkably, the actors and director Todd Strauss-Schulson (The Final Girls) power on like the conked-head gimmick is a completely new invention.
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Audiences may find it harder to fake amnesia, especially when Isnt It Romantic starts morphing into the exact kind of sugar-spun rom-com that Natalie claims to despise. In fact, everyone starts acting like theyve been forced fed Love Potion No. 9. Natalie acquires a gay best friend in Donny (Brandon Scott Jones), the better to deal with Whitney (a terrific Betty Gilpin), her mousey work assistant who is now a glam go-getter practically cloned from Sigourney Weaver in Working Girl. Even Josh gets hit on by gorgeous Priyanka Chopra Jonas (the third name courtesy of new husband Nick) as Isabella, a beauty with the unlikely title of yoga ambassador. Natalie is ready to puke, until she hops into bed with body-beautiful Blake. The catch: Theres no sex. Its all before-and-after fade-outs, because it has to be. Natalie is fated for Josh, a non-spoiler unless youve never been allowed to see a Hollywood love story.
Wilson makes it all go down easy with her brass and sass and unfakeable warmth even during the danceathon ending in which the whole cast celebrates the rom-com aesthetic by getting down to Whitney Houstons I Wanna Dance With Somebody. Isnt that a betrayal of everything Natalie and her movie are supposed to stand for? Yeah, maybe, but this meta-take on meet-cutes hooks you up with a few good laughs while it mocks itself. Its a damn shame about the sucker punch of a happy ending. Still, thanks to the comic tornado at its center, Isnt It Romantic is still your best bet for a Valentines date at the movies. You could do worse.
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